Tag Archives: DAVAO CITY

Profile of Street Children in Davao City

The street children phenomenon has been considered as one of the effects of economic distress in the Philippines. The increase in oil prices in 1979 and the 1980-1982 worldwide recession has exacerbated the poverty situation in the Philippines. In 1986, 70 to 80 percent of the country’s population of 54 million was considered poor. In the cities, eleven million urban dwellers were living below the poverty line. It has been observed that as an effect of economic and social crises in the eighties, an increasing number of street children adopted the streets, markets and other public places as their regular abode and source of livelihood. In the late 1980’s street children were estimated to be between one to three percent of the cities’ young population. In Metro Manila, 50,000 to 75,000 children were found in the streets. In Davao and Iloilo, the number was established to be between 2,000 to 3,000 children.

In the early eighties, street children were perceived to be anti-social. They were associated with juvenile delinquency, pick pocketing , begging and sniffing solvent. Many were subjected to old punitive measures like arrest and harrasments to prevent them from staying in the streets. However, in the mid-1980’s changes in the management of street children influenced Philippine policies and programs on street children. More humane and workable responses to the street children problem have evolved. In 1985, the UNICEF, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare (DSWD), the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and the National Council of Social Development Foundation of the Philippines (CWAFPI) came up with an integrated program for street children. They established “The Joint Project for Street Children”. Priority cities and towns were identified and working committees were formed. Davao City was one of the priority cities identified.

At present, non-government and government organizations have undertaken activities and programs for the benefit of the street children in Davao City. These have been based on the past surveys and the experiences of implementors. The last survey was done in 1986 as part of a ten-city program set up by the DSWD-NCSD-UNICEF “Joint Project on Street Children”.

The seeming increase in the number of street children requires an update on their situation. This study hopes to provide current information on the nature of the activities, spatial movement, typology, aspirations and motivation of street children in Davao City. The data gathered will give attention and direction to the activities and programs that concern them. Hence, this study will provide bases for planning and implementation of activities, and monitoring and evaluation of programs. At the same time, this study can give rise to further studies that may be necessary.

Objectives

1. To determine the background and characteristics of street children in Davao City.
2. To find out their aspirations and motivations for staying in the streets.
3. To establish a typology of street children in Davao City.
4. To find out their spatial movement at different times of the year.
5. To determine their awareness, perceptions and experiences with programs and projects on street children in Davao City.

Methodology

Research Method Used. The study is descriptive, using the survey method. An interview schedule served as instrument of this study. It covered all areas where the street children converged in Davao City: main streets (San Pedro, Recto and Magsaysay), markets (Bankerohan and Agdao), and other busy public places which include the Sasa airport, bus terminals (Maa and Matina), service stations (Matina Crossing and Agdao), and Sasa wharf.

Unit of Analysis. Children of and on the street aging 18 years and below were the subjects of the study. Children on the street consist of working children who is still have a family connection of a more or less regular nature.. Children of the street consists of children who see the street as their house and it is there that they seek shelter, food and a sense of family with companions.

Sampling Procedure. The following procedures were followed in this study:
1. The sample size of 400 was determined using the formula:

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2. A listing of street children was conducted in all the areas of convergence in Davao city for almost one month by volunteer workers and street educators. Their familiarity with the street children was helpful in identifying them. The lists were validated by the street educators of the Inter-agency Working Committee for Urban Street Children. Duplication was also checked.

The assessment of the street educators showed that the proportion of street children by area of convergence was not realistic. Thus, in the absence of a realistic list, a percentage estimate of the number of street children by the areas of convergence was utilized to determine the distribution of samples. For example the sample size of San Pedro is equal to 22 percent of 168.

3. Individual respondents were drawn randomly using the lists of street children. The master list was useful in locating the respondents.

Instrumentation. The final interview schedule was formulated using the interview schedules of the past surveys on street children, suggestions given by the street educators and other related literature on street children. Pretesting was conducted to determine the reliability of the instrument. Validity was also confirmed by conducting a focus group discussion with the street children.

The interview schedule included the following variables

I. Background Characteristics
a. socio-demographic
b. Economic activities
c. Family background
d. Health and Nutrition
e. Peer relations
f. Gang membership
g. Arrest and detention

II. Typology of Street Children
III. Spatial Movement
IV. Values and Aspirations
V. Awareness of Institutions for Street Children

Data Gathering. Five field interviews and five street educators were given orientation on the interview schedule. The street educators were requested to assist the interviewers in locating the respondents and in establishing rapport with them. They also helped in the conduct of the interview.

Interviews were undertaken in the daytime and nighttime to enable the interviewers to catch the children in the streets. Some of the children who did not show up within their areas of convergence were interviewed in their houses. Street volunteers helped in locating the houses of the street children.

Some of the difficulties were:

1. Some street children in the list could not be found in the street. Some of them became street children only during summer but were in school during school days.
2. The lists were not complete, since some street children were not in the lists.
3. Interviews was difficult among children engaged in vending.
4. Some mothers interfered in the interview process. Some of them were suspicious of the interviewers. Trust was a very important factor in the interview. The street educators helped in convincing the mothers to submit their children for interview.
5. Some street children went to two areas of convergence. Difficulty of classifying them according was one of the limitations of the study.

Spotchecking was done by the research team in all the areas sampled.

Data Analysis. Simple central tendencies and percentages were used to analyze the data.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Sex. Males generally outnumbered females. Out of the 400 respondents, males constitute 76 percent while females, 24 percent. This yields a sex ration of 3.16 males for every female.

Age. The ages of the respondents ranged from 5 to 18 years old, with those in the 13-14 age category comprising the modal class of 31.5 percent. Mean age was computed at 12.57 years.

Grade Level of Respondents. Respondents were asked whether they were currently studying or not. The majority (324 or 81%) were in school while 76 (19%) were out-of-school. Among those who were currently studying, 35.5 percent were in high school, 34 percent were still in the grade 1-4 level, 29.3 percent were in the grade 5-6 level. Interestingly, four of these street children claimed to be college students. Among the school drop-outs, those in the intermediate course (grade 5-6 level) reported the highest rate (35.5%) followed by those in grade 1-4 (31.6 %). At least two street children reported not having received any education at all, while eight others gave non-responses.

Reasons For Dropping Out School. For those respondents who were not studying, the major reasons for dropping out were economic in nature, i.e., financial problems particularly having no money to pay for tuition fees and to buy their schools needs (54%) and being preoccupied with earning a living since the family is dependent on them for their needs (20%). The other reasons given were their lack of interest in attending school (12%), their being run-aways (5%), peer-influence (3%), lack of encouragement or support from family members (1%) and embarrassment, i.e. respondent feels ashamed because he is older than his classmates (1%)

Grade Level and Ability To Read and Write. The respondents were also asked whether they could read and write. Their ability to read and write was determined by asking them to read a few lines from the survey-questionnaires during the interview sessions and asking them to write their names on the instrument. Among the 400 respondents, 354 (88.5%) could read while only 46 (11.5%) did not know how to read. Data on the respondents’ ability to read further cross-classified according to grade levels. Among those who could read, more than half (296) were in school while 58 respondents were out of school.

The high school level had the most number of respondents who could read among those who were in school (38.8%) and for those out of school, 40 percent of those who could read came from the grade 5-6 level. Among both the in-school and out-of-school children, those who could not read were in the elementary level. The respondents’ ability to write was cross-tabulated by grade levels. Except for two (2) respondents, all those currently in school (322) could write. On the whole, the respondents – whether in-school or out-of-school – generally had the ability to read and write (397).

Economic Activities. Generally, the street children belong to the informal sector of workers engaged in casual and unregistered work which is not covered by existing laws on wages and work conditions. This section presents a background on the respondents’ economic activities, such as their type and place of work, working hours, monthly income, family expectations regarding contributions to the family purse, amount and frequency of contributions, and reasons for giving money to persons other than family.

The survey data revealed that, generally, the street children of Davao City (77%) were involved in a single type of work with a few (17%) holding two, three or even more jobs, over and above their main work. Such arrangements, however, depend on the time and demand for their services. however, depend on the time and demand for their services. The highest number of respondents (148 or 39.4%) were the child-vendors invariably found in market places, shopping centers, terminals and streets of Davao City. The second highest group were those who worked as carwashers/carwatchers (31.6%), found mainly at gasoline stations (18.1%, shopping centers (6.6%), markets (5%) and terminals (1.9%). To a limited extent, the third highest group (13.3%) were the scavengers who were usually found in the streets of Davao City. Still, others earned their living either as shoeshine boys (9.8%) in shopping centers or terminals or as porters (6.4%). The rest were classified as factory workers, trisikad drivers , waiters or waitresses, beggars, errand boys, garbage collectors or even as a guide for the blind.

Type of Work and Working hours. Those respondents who were currently attending school, had either morning or afternoon classes. This arrangement allowed them enough time to go out in the streets and earn extra money. Data indicate that on the whole, most of these street children work in the afternoons, particularly the carwashers/carwatchers (23.1%) and vendors (22.3%). While scavengers predominantly work in the morning (5.8%), the rest reported various working hours. At least 26.4 percent claimed to be working whole day.

Reasons for Working. Asked why they were working, the majority of the respondents (64.4%) explained that the income of the family was not enough for their daily needs. Some respondents mentioned that their parents were unemployed (7.2%), separated (5.0%), or already dead (3.2%).

Monthly Income. The income of the street children ranged from less than P500.00 to slightly more than P1,500.00 a month.

Approximately half (51.3%) of the respondents earned less than P500.00 while less than a third (30%) reported incomes from P501.00 to P1,000.00. Less than a fourth reported an income of P1,001 to P1,500 (11.4%) and above (6.4%).

Parental expectations from their children, given the present economic difficulties, extend far beyond the regular domestic chores in the household. It now includes child labor and material support which has become the rule rather than the exception. This may be so when a family is not in a position to allocate a high proportion of family resources for meeting personal and material needs. When asked whether their families expected them to contribute to the family purse, close to two-birds (62.8%) of the respondents answered in the affirmative.

The respondents were likewise asked whether they gave money to their families regardless of being expected to or not. A large majority (90.2%) said they gave money to their families on a voluntary basis while 9.0 percent said they did not give at all.

Since a great number of respondents said they gave money to their families, they were also asked how much given and how often such amounts were given. Close to one half (49.2%) gave money on a daily basis while less than a third (31.2%) gave money at least once a week. The rest gave money either gave during weekends only (8.6%), once a month (3.8%) or on various occasions (7.1%). The amount of money given by the respondents to their families ranged from P1.00 to P15.00 or more. The trend shows that whether the respondents give money on a daily, weekly, weekend or monthly basis, the majority (210 or 61.0%) give P15.00 and above.

The respondents were also asked whether they give money to persons other than their families. The question was meant to determine whether this could be a factor why the child is out on the streets and is forced to earn a living. However, data indicate that only 12.8 percent claimed to have given money to persons other than their family. The rest of the respondents either answered negatively (85.6%) or gave no responses at all (1.5%).

Their reasons were largely due to kindness and generosity (60.8%). They extended help to friends so they could buy their basic needs, especially food to eat (47.1%). About 11.8 percent mentioned delihensya. Still others explained that it is both a form of reciprocity (7.8 %) and an expression of friendship(3.9%).

Occupation of Respondents’ Father and Mother. The data revealed that while 17.8 percent were unemployed, the single biggest group (21%) were craftsmen, production process workers and laborers (e.g., construction workers, shoe repairer, watch repairer, tailor, furniture maker, mechanic, electrician, and welder). The other dominant occupations were those engaged in “buy – and – sell” / trading activities (13%), workers of transport and communication (11%) like drivers, “dispatchers”, and other related occupations.

When asked about their mother’s occupation, more than one-third (36.2%) said they were unemployed. Those who had work were in services and related work (18.7%) (e.g., laundrywomen, house helpers), followed by those in buy and sell (14.7%). Interestingly, a number reported their mothers working as stevedores and freight handlers (13.8%). As observed, most of those who were working belonged to the informal work sector which usually provided unstable and low-paying jobs.

Difficulties in gathering information relative to parental income were observed, as shown in the low responses to income-related questions. Only 145 out of the 322 respondents (45%) whose fathers were working provided information on their fathers’ income and 110 out of the 255 respondents (43%) of those fathers were working gave similar data. Among those who did, the single biggest group (12.7%) of fathers who were earning reported monthly incomes ranging P500.00 to P1,000.00, while 9.9 percent of them were earning P2,501.00 to 3,000.00 per month. The lowest income received was P500.00 and below (4.7%) and the highest income was P3,001.00 and above (2.8%). As observed, among those who revealed their income, 93.7% were earning below the poverty line which is P3,864.00 per month for a family of six. The mothers’ income seemed to be insufficient to complement the fathers’ income because a large percentage were only earning PI,000.00 and below (24.4%). Taking the father’s and mother’s income together, the family income level was still below the poverty line;

Number of Children in Respondents’ Family. The family economic situation seemed to be aggravated by the fact that more than half of the respondents’ families (62.8%) had one to six children. The over-all average family size was 5.97 children – a figure above the national average of 5.2. One indication of existing coping mechanisms among the respondents’ families was the number of children working in the streets. More than half of the respondents (56.5%) reported that their siblings were likewise working. Half (50.4%) of the siblings working in the street were engaged in buying and selling goods and 30.1 percent were carwashers and “watch-your-car” boys. The data indicate a probable relationship between the siblings’ type of work and that of the respondents’. The respondents were predominantly engaged in buy-and-sell and carwashing and carwatching.

When asked “With whom do you stay?”, the respondents generally said they were staying with their parents (70.3%), with the rest residing either with their mothers (13.2%) or their fathers (3.0%). Only very few (6.8%) stayed with non-relatives. Such findings suggest that while the majority of these respondents live and subsist on the streets, there are continuous interactions with their families. Similar findings were observed in 1988 wherein it a as shown that 70 to 85 percent of the street children in the Philippines had regular contacts with their families. On the other hand, those who were staying with individuals other than their parents (e.g. siblings, relatives or non-relatives) revealed that they never went home at all (51.8%). Only a fifth (20.4%) admitted frequent home visits, with the rest (18.6%) rarely visiting their families.

The reasons most commonly cited in decreasing importance – were poor family life e.g., always bring scolded or punished (21.4%), being abandoned by parents (14.2%), or the anger they felt towards their parents (7.1%). The distance and costs involved (32.2%) were likewise mentioned.

Just as parents are to provide their children with love and affection, they are equally responsible for the inculcation of moral values, along with the proper upbringing and discipline of their children. A common mechanism to achieve these among Filipino families is to scold the children whenever they fail to do what is expected of them.

Such practices were revealed by the street children when asked about the common causes of misunderstanding with their parents. Almost three-fourths of the respondents (78.7%) claimed that the common cause of misunderstanding with their parents was refusal to do what was expected of them. Most of the expectations were related to inculcation of values required of them to be acceptable in society, such as not to lie, not to go out without permission, to go to school, not to quarrel with siblings, not to fight back, not to gallivant and others. Also mentioned were parental expectations that the children share in the household needs. Other causes of misunderstanding were: scapegoating of parents (11.7%), refusal of parents to give money for school requirements (3.4%), miscommunication (2.4%), tantrums (2.1%), and others.

In a related manner, the current study likewise sought information on how parents exerted control over their children. Respondents were asked the forms of punishment given whenever they failed to do what was expected of them or when they did something wrong. Their answers ranged from the mildest form of punishment, which was scolding, to the severest form of physical punishment. About 43 percent experienced mild physical punishment (e.g., pinching, slapping, spanking) and 30.5 percent experienced severe physical punishment (e.g., kicking, combination of slapping, hitting with a hard object and or striking).

Health and Nutrition

In this study, a scale of 2 feet – 6 feet and above was used to gauge the respondents’ height. Based on the height. Based on the height standards used by the Department of Health (DOH) , survey data revealed that more than 62.3 percent of the respondents fell below the set standard for height and 37.7 percent fell within standards. No respondents were observed to be above the required standards. Data gathered on body structure were classifies into four categories, i.e. skinny, slim, medium-built and stout. Close to 60 percent of the respondents were observed to be slim while 23 percent were of medium build. The rest were mainly skinny (13%) or stout (1%).

Data showed that respondents took the recommended three servings of energy-rich food, such as rice everyday. Breakfast, lunch and supper consisted of cheap sources of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins. The common source of protein is fresh or dried fish, usually taken during breakfast (52%), supper (50.8%) and lunch (49.8%). Presumably, after a hard day’s work in the streets, the children want a better meal, thus a higher percentage of carbohydrates and protein-rich foods. The main source of vitamins is vegetables invariably taken during lunch (41.8%), supper (36.8%) or breakfast (17.2%). On the other hand, eggs and poultry were mentioned by a limited group, i.e. during breakfast (14.0%), lunc (2.8%), and supper (2.8%). At best, the low percentage intake of eggs, meat, and poultry and the limited choices for other protein and vitamin foods is but a reflection of the extent of the street child’s and family’s impoverishment.

Data show that 63 percent claimed to have more than 8 hours of sleep. About 21 percent sleep exactly 8 hours and 15.8 percent had less than 8 hours sleep. In addition, when probed where respondent slept, 92.3 percent said they slept at home, with the rest mentioning either in a center for street children (3.5%) or sleeping on the sidewalks or streets (2.5%). Such findings suggest the possibility of the respondents working close to their homes, thus allowing such sleeping arrangements. Relatedly, the findings that the majority of the respondents still had parents and were living with them, would reinforce such arrangements.

As another indicator of health, the respondents were asked about their bathing habits. More than three-fourths (78%) took daily baths, with more than a tenth (11.5%) bathing more than once a day, and still others reportedly taking a bath every other day (9.8%). Interestingly, two respondents claimed to bathe on a weekly basis (0.5%).

Illness for the Past Three Months. Recall data was subsequently utilized to investigate the health status of the street children, i.e. their ailments for the past three months. Physical health was measured by the prevalence of signs and symptoms of illness as reported by the children. Approximately 94.5 percent of the street children interviewed reported some form of illness during three-months preceding the study period. Symptoms related to upper respiratory were the most common, namely cough/colds (69.8%) and its related symptoms like fever (67.7%) and headache (46.3%). Gastro-intestinal ailments such as diarrhea (18.5%) and parasitism (7.1%) were similarly mentioned though at a much lesser extent. On the other hand, skin diseases (11.9%) in the form of prickly heat, scabies and ringworms ranked third, followed closely by the common flu (10.6%).

Significantly, the street children were found to have inferior physical health. This was manifested by a lower nutritional state and the tendency to experience more upper respiratory and gastro-intestinal disorders as well as skin diseases.

Field observations by the research team suggest that the conditions under which these children work could have predisposed colds, fever and flu may be the possible consequences of their exposure to bad weather and air pollution. High levels of dust have been known to lead to irritations of the respiratory system.

The family’s role of nurturance and sustenance is most evident and appreciated during one’s illness or moments of depression. Survey findings reveal such roles are most established among these street children’s families. While mothers were consulted by a significant majority (70.5%) whenever they were sick, the other family-members likewise provided such assistance, e.g. the fathers, grandparents, professional health workers (e.g doctors and nurses) and street educators were likewise mentioned though by a limited group. Likewise, mothers were identified as the main source of health care (77%).

The respondent’s use of toilet facilities outside their homes was likewise elicited as an indicator of health and sanitary practices. The respondents’ reported using those most convenient and closest to their place of work. A large percentage (36.7%) of the street children claimed using toilets of churches, hospitals, schools and other buildings. A bigger proportion of respondents (31.5%) went home to use toilets. Likewise it has been observed that some of these street children (27%) used those areas accessible behind the buildings or went to the river to relieve themselves.

Spatial Movement

Spatial mobility was ascertained by looking into the movement from place of birth to the place of residence at the time of interview and the movement of respondents in terms of the areas frequented.

The respondents were generally non-migrants (65.5%), having been born in Davao City and still residing in the same area. Close to a third (32.3%) were migrants most of whom being interprovincial migrants within Mindanao, e.g. the Davao provinces, Surigao del Sur and Norte, Butuan Iligan and Zamboanga.

The single biggest group of these respondents (55.8%) began their street life between the ages 8 to 11 years old. The mean age is 9.6 years old. Since then, they reported having stayed from one to two places (84.7%). They also reported having stayed from 12 to 48 months (1 to 4 years) in the first area frequented (66.3%). The same pattern was observed when asked about the second place stayed in. The data seem to indicate that respondents have not been very mobile.

It was observed that street children usually frequent places near their residences. As explained by the street educators during one focused group discussion, the street children exhibit some form of “territoriality” among themselves mainly as a means of protecting themselves from other street children who might belongs to another area. During the First Assembly of Street Children in Davao City, the children were observed to show some signs of antagonism towards non-group members.

Patterns of the geographical mobility of the children were likewise ascertained particularly during certain seasons of the year such as during the school terms, Christmas holidays, and summer vacations. The children were frequently in the market places during school days (24%) and the Christmas season (19%). An interesting finding was the large percentage (30%) who spend their summer vacations in the provinces.

Street children generally stayed near their residences and rarely frequented areas far from their residence for security and sense of belongingness. Close family ties were further strengthened by respondents’ summer activities, with many of them spending summer vacation with their families in the provinces.

Peer Relations

The street children had from one to more than six friends. The single biggest group (29%) claimed having one or two friends. Still others reported having three to four friends (25.3%) or five to six friends (25.5%). A smaller percentage (19.7%) mentioned having more than six friends. Asked about their activities with friends, at least 72 percent of these street children reported wholesome, safe and healthy outdoor activities. The more popular games mentioned by more than a fourth (26.7%) were “takyan“, “chinese garter“, “lukso“, and “tumba lata“. The second most popular activity was simply telling stories or swapping jokes, or taking walks together (23%). At least 15.5 percent were basketball-soccer fans while others enjoyed swimming and fishing (7.7%). Indoor activities were also reported like watching movies, betamax films, going to discos, studying, making assignments and hearing “mass”. On the other hand, a number of respondents reported negative behavior such as gambling (8 respondents) and drinking liquor (2 respondents), with one admitting that he was a bully.

The first three areas frequented by the respondents were the streets of Davao City (15%), recreation centers (12.8%) and market areas (11.2%). A cross tabulation by survey sites and areas frequented reveal that a high portion of the street children usually work and play in the same areas with their friends. For example, a large proportion of respondents in Sasa went to the wharf and airport, while those in the San Pedro-Magsaysay-Matina-Bankerohan areas frequented places where they coudl ply their trades, usually for carwashing, or as “watch-your-car” boys, or as itinerant vendors. On the other hand, Agdao respondents appeared to be an exception, usually visiting such recreations-specific sites as streetcorners, basketball courts, of neighborhoods with friends. In all six areas, almost half of the respondents (48.8%) reported spending at least two hours with friends, with a third (30.7%) spending from three to six hours.

Recreational Activities

Recreational activities are very important means of inculcating values of sportsmanship, for personality development, and preparations for ones’ roles as a future adult in society. The over-all picture of the respondents’ recreational activities shows that more than half (57.8%) engaged in children’s games like “taga-anay“, “tigso“, “tumba lata“, war games and hide-and seek. Other recreational activities were playing basketball (50.8%), movies (24%), billiard (19.8%) and others. While the activities mentioned were generally acceptable and healthy games and sports among children, the data likewise indicate that life in the streets had exposed them to vices. Gambling (16%) and drinking alcohol (7.8%) were also mentioned by respondents.

When respondents were asked about vices, close to a third (32.3%) mentioned either smoking, gambling and/or use of drugs. Among the respondents who had such habits, those engaged solely in gambling (48.8%) and those who both sampling and smoked (44.2%) predominated, with a much smaller group (7%) using illegal drugs. The use of drugs seemed to have included marijuana, rugby and gasoline.

To measure the economic cost of such practices, reveals that those who smoked (44.2%) were asked about their daily expenses for cigarettes. Close to a third (31.6%) reported spending less than P2.00 per day, while others (22.8% each) were given cigarettes by friends for free or spent from P2.00 to P15.00 daily for cigarettes.

Related literature show that habit formation and progression of a deviant career is reinforced by accessibility to the means. Being given free cigarettes tend to be the first stage in the habit formation. As children developed the desire for smoking through constant experience, they also learned to spend a part of their earnings for cigarettes. This is not only observed among smokers but also among drug-users and gamblers.

Survey findings suggest more than half of the respondents who gambled were already hooked on gambling, with about 56.9 percent claiming that they gambled often. The others (37.5%) reported that they gambled either once a week, twice a month or even rarely. Given the significant proportion of these street children engaged in gambling in varying degrees, appropriate attention is clearly needed to curtail its effects on the other children on the streets.

Findings of the present study revealed that only 10.8 percent of the respondents claimed to belong to gangs, with the single biggest group (67.4%) ranging from 12 to 15 years old. The two youngest gang members were from eight and nine years old while the eldest (five street children) ranged from 16 to 17 years old.

Asked why they joined gangs, sixteen respondents (out of 43 gang members) commonly identified the need for protection or to have sense of security (37.2%). The other reasons cited included peer-influence (11.7%) with one mentioning his desire to bully other street children (2.3%). The gang names are suggestive of the nature of the activities candidly undertaken by the group. Some of these were “Kat-Kat Bahay Gang“, “Strollers“, “Tunay na Standby“, “Kulata Gang“, “Apache Gang” and “Peacemakers“. Other names simply indicated the specific places where they converged like “Batang Lawaan” and “Osmeña Boys“. Most popularly mentioned were “Kat-kat Bahay Gang” (3), “Bad Company” (3), and “Tunay na Standby“.

A large percentage (30.2) of these gangs had more than 15 members each. They engaged in a variety of activities, ranging from the more high-risk types, which are detrimental to the socialization process of children, e.g. street brawls (11.6%) and bullying other street children (9.3%) to the more positive and healthy ones like work, disco-dancing and cooperative-type of pursuits (18.7%).

Streetlife generally poses risks to the personality of street children, e.g. possible bad influences of their peers. The present study, however, reveals some possible exceptions. Given the presence of groups who encourage cooperation among themselves and who group together while working in the streets, presumably for mutual protection.

Arrest and Detention

The Association theory of deviancy explains how exposure to group behavior influences an individual’s action. Thus children learn about adult behavior through their association and experiences with adults. Set withing the context of the street children’s streetlife, their experiences of arrests and detention are likely to expose them to deviants and/or criminals. Opportunities for learning about certain deviant skills or illegal trades may take place during their detention and experiences with other offenders.

Asked whether they ever experienced arrests and detention, their responses show that the majority (77.20%) of those arrested usually ranged 12 to 17 years old — particularly those in their early teens. 47.2 percent admitted that they have been arrested more than once and and almost equal percentage (47.1%) were arrested only once. These data indicate that a large percentage had the experience of being detained, with some being arrested often. Five of 7.1 percent had been arrested more than five times. The arrests were mainly made for offenses committed against property or theft (32.9%) and for curfew violations (27.1%) while the rest cited gambling (11.4%), participation in gang conflicts (10%), and illegal vending (5.7%). At least four street children were arrested for sniffing rugby.

Probing their experiences during detention, the children generally mentioned violence and torture-related incidentas e.g. being mauled (18.6%), whipped on outstretched arms (7.1%), hit with armalite butt (4.3%), hand pounded (4.3%), among others. About 10 percent, however, claimed that they did nit have any untoward experiences while being detained.

Asked whether they perceived any risks while staying in the streets, the majority answered in the affirmative (75.8%). The most commonly expressed risks included that of being run over by the passing vehicles (59.4%), being mauled by other street children (49.2%), of being implicated in crimes (44.6%), and being victimized by extortionists (37.3%). Others mentioned exposure to the changing weather conditions (18.2%). To a lesser degree, other risk mentioned were sex-related, i.e. being sexually exploited by homosexuals and pedophiles (17.5%), and being raped (13.5%). Appropriate 20 of the 34 respondents mentioned a more basic need, i.e. the need for shelter at night (6.6%).

To provide an empirical measure of their priorities in life, the respondents were asked to rank their needs according to priorities. The most commonly mentioned was financial, i.e. money for basic needs (71%) and for education (23.7%). The second was education (50%) and the third was a home (24.8%). More than half of the respondents (54.7%) were able to satisfy their basic needs and the rest claimed otherwise (45.3%).

Asked why such needs were not met, the absence or lack of money (67.4%) was frequently cited. To a lesser extent, others mentioned their father’s income as being inadequate (11%) or that their parents were unemployed (7.7%). On the whole, the reasons mentioned were basically related to the inability of parents to earn adequate income to meet the needs of their families. This is supported by the data on parents’ income; in both cases the incomes reported were below the poverty line.

Considering that the majority of these children generally stayed with their parents, they likewise perceived that their parents are responsible for their needs (37.3%). Interestingly, one notes that for some respondents, mothers (29.2%) – more than fathers (7%) – were perceived to assume such responsibilities. On the whole, the survey findings reveal the strong kinship bonds of the respondents. The respondents also show their attachment to their kin groups. More than half 59 percent mentioned their relatives as being likewise responsible for their needs.

Values, Aspirations and Opinions

This section presents the street children’s perception of their present situation, their reasons for being happy or unhappy with their present situation, what they plan to do to achieve their aspirations, and their perceptions of the ideal situation for street children. To solicit the street children’s perceptions of their present situation, they were asked about being “happy” or “unhappy” with it. While the majority (76%) of the respondents perceived their situation on a positive note and reported that they were “happy”, at least 96 children (24%) claimed otherwise.

The reasons cited for being unhappy by at least 96 street children (38.5%) were mainly economic in nature, e.g. no money to satisfy one’s needs, no school fees and respondents and parent’s limited income. Other reasons were family-related (15.6%), e.g. separation of parents and abandonment by parents and job-related (13.5%) like exhausting work and inability to study one’s lessons in the work place. Reasons relating to the personal and the family lives focused on parental separation and their being unable to pursue their studies, among others.

Respondents were also about their plans for the next five years. Education received the highest ranking, with more than two-thirds (68.5%) of the respondents desiring to continue or finish their studies and a limited group (3.5%) wanting to work while studying. Seventy-four (74) street children expressed their desire to work full time while at least seven respondents (1.8%) plan to engage in small-time business. Fifteen either failed to give responses or did not have any plans at all.

How would these street children attempt to achieve their aspiration, what means of opportunities are available to them so that their aspirations would turn into realities? A significant majority (60.2%) agreed that they would have to study hard in order to achieve their goals, while more than a fourth (26.8%)cited the need to work hard. Twenty-six (26) respondents (6.5%) mentioned that they would both work and study hard while others identified the need to save money or seek assistance from government agencies.

Respondents were asked to rank their preferences for their work of study based on three categories, i.e to study full time, to work full time, or to study and work. Given these three choices, more than half (55%) of these street children preferred to study and work at the same time while 40.7 percent chose to study full-time. Only 4.3 percent of the respondents like to work full-time. A highly significant group of these street children desired a high level of education, with 88 percent aspiring to finish college. The rest either hoped to finish high school (8.5%), their elementary education (1%) or to take up a vocational course.

Asked about their job preferences in the future, the respondents’ choices were varied (Table 72). On the whole, 51 percent chose white-collar jobs, 21.8 percent blue collar jobs, 11.3 percent vocational/technical and mechanical jobs, and 9.5 percent manual jobs. Among the more populat choices for white collar jobs were: nursing, medical doctor, office employee, army/military/policeman, and engineering. Preferred blue coller jobs were: salesgirl, waitress, driver/conductor and security guard. Vocational/technical/mechanical job choices were that of radio operator. Manual jobs mentioned were: construction worker/carpenter and porter.

Respondents were asked their reasons for preferring such occupations in the future. More than half (59.5%) preferred such occupations because they perceived these occupations are available and offer better-pay, it can help their parents and relatives (12.5%), the sick and the needy (7.5%), and help educate people (4.5%), among others. The data further indicated that while more than half of the respondents (59.5%) preferred these occupations as a means to alleviate their poor situation, less than a fourth (24.5%) were to consider these occupations as a means of helping others.

Given a choice, would these children desire to get out of the streets or simply continue such mode of existence? Survey findings revealed that the respondents were closely split in their responses, with 47.8 percent desiring to end their street life and 46 percent preferring to continue living in the streets. Asked why they (184 respondents) preferred to stay on the streets, the most common reason mentioned was economic in nature. Living in the streets meant being able to earn money (66.3%), thus having a daily income for one’s schooling needs and subsistence. It also meant being able to augment the family income, and in this way to help the family (15.2%) and supplement inadequate income of parents (2.7%). To a limited extent – though quite meaningful – thirteen respondents (7.1%) indicated their happiness being among friends in the streets.

Their perceptions regarding the ideal situation for street children were mainly centered on themselves e.g. satisfaction of their needs (63.2%) such as attending school full time (53.2%), being able to study (6%) and, being able to play (4%). The respondents likewise mentioned such ideal situations as receiving parental guidance (7.5%), living with parents (5%), and helping with household chores (2.8%). Only 5 percent reported that street children must seek assistance from government agencies.

Awareness and Experience in Street Children Institutions

This section presents the respondent’s knowledge and awareness of institutions that deal with street children, i.e. whether the respondents were ever referred to such institutions, the type of institutions they were referred to, whether they had availed of institutional services, and the type of services availed of.

Survey responses revealed that nearly two-thirds (62.5%) of the respondents had no knowledge of these institutions at all. The rest (37.5%) claimed to know about such agencies. The 150 respondents who professed knowledge about these institutions for street children were asked whether they had ever been referred to such agencies. Approximately a fourth of the group (26.7%) admitted having been referred to such institutions while the greater majority (73.3%) claimed otherwise.

The forty (40) respondents who claimed that they were referred to such institutions were asked to describe these insitutions. Two types were generally identified by these respondents, namely the drop-in centers (67.5%) and the temporary shelter-type (32.5%). Drop in centers refers to those institutions which cater to street children who simply drop in for their meals, bath and brief rest. The temporary shelters cover those institutions which rehabilitate street children for longer periods of time.

All respondents were asked whether they had availed of services from other agencies. Forty percent had availed of services from other agencies while 60 percent had not availed of my services.

Summary and Recommendations

The major research findings, briefly stated, are as follows:

1. Socio-Demographic Background

a. Of the total 400 respondents, males predominated (76%) over the females (24%). The respondents’ ranged from 5 to 18 years old with mean age computed at 12 years.

b. The respondents ranged from preparatory school to college undergraduate. The majority (324) were in-school while 76 were out-of-school.

c. Of those currently enrolled, more than a third (35%) are in high school, another third (34%) were in grade 1-4, and a limited group (1.2%) were in college.

d. Of the school drop-outs, 35 percent attended the grade 5- 6 level, 31.6 percent grade 1-4 and 18.4 percent had some high school education. Three percent had no schooling at all.

e. The majority of the respondents can read and write.

f. Poverty was cited as the major reason for a greater number of respondents foregoing their education. A number of them were either pre-occupied with their earning a living or simply lacked interest in studying. A few others were run-aways or were not allowed to go back to school by their parents. Still others either fell into the bad influences of the “barkada” or were ashamed to resume their studies because of age.

2. Economic Activities

a. Generally, the street children of Davao City had only one type of work. There were a few who were engaged in two of three different livelihood activities. Vending or peddling in markets place, supermarkets, shopping centers or terminals was the most common means of livelihood. A number also worked as carwashers/carwatchers in the same places. Other livelihood activities undertaken were scavenging, shining shoes, stevedoring, collecting garbage and a host of other odd jobs that would provide them their daily meals.

b. The majority of the vendors, scavengers and shoeshine boys worked the whole day after school. Most carwashers/carwatchers worked in the afternoon till late in the evening.

c. Monthly earnings of these street children ranged from a little less than P500.00 to slightly over P1,500.00. The family’s tight financial condition served as the single major reason their efforts at for earning a living. A few mentioned parental deaths, separation and unemployment.

d. More than half of the respondents were expected to hand in their daily, weekly and weekend earnings to their parents. The majority voluntarily gave money to their families. The amount of money given ranged from a minimum of P1.00 daily to as such as P15.00 and above. If there were other persons given money by these children, they were usually their friends.

e. A little more than 70 percent of the respondents claimed they were satisfied with their present means of subsistence while 27.1 percent reported otherwise.

3. Family Background

a. These street children’s parents were largely employed in low-paying jobs. A large percentage of their fathers were engaged in blue-collar, mechanical/technical and manual occupations. Close to one-fifth (17%) of these children reported their fathers as unemployed.

Their mothers were usually in household services or in vending/peddling.

b. Father’s earnings ranged from P500.00 – P1,000.00 monthly while the mothers’ income was P1,000.00 and below.

c. More than half of the respondents had siblings also engaged in ambulant vending, carwatching/carwashing, scavenging, etc.

d. More than 90 percent of the respondents went home to their families after work. Some went home only occasionally because of the high cost of travel and disharmonious relations with family members. A Few did not have homes to go home to.

e. The majority of the respondents were living with their families. The few who did not stay or live with their parents, particularly those whose parents were either deceased or separated, lived instead with grandparents, uncles and aunties.

f. Asking about family conflicts, the children admitted that these were often caused by their failure to perform family obligations and conform to family norms. The children were either scolded or received physical punishment.

4. Health and Nutrition

a. The majority fell below the standards set by the Department of Health for height, while 37.7 percent fell within them.

b. More than 60 percent were slim, 22.3 percent medium built, 13 percent skinny, and 1 percent stout.

c. Most ate three meals a day. Meals consisted of cheap sources of carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins.

d. More than 50 percent had at least eight hours of sleep and 15.8 percent less than 8 hours.

e. Ninety percent slept at home, 13.5 percent in a center of street children and 2.5 percent on sidewalks.

f. Most common complaints relating to the health of the street children were upper respiratory and gastro-intestinal ailments. Flu and skin diseases were also common.

g. Most respondents reported that whenever they got sick, their mothers usually took care of them. A few mentioned street educators, medical doctors and other relatives.

h. Public toilets, including those in schools, hospitals, supermarkets, or the back of buildings were used by the children while in the streets. Rivers and creeks were also used by those working close to these areas.

5. Spatial Movement

a. While sixty-six percent were local residents, approximately a third were migrants mainly from other provinces in Mindanao (27.5%), with at least 4.8 percent coming from the Visayas and Luzon.

b. Sixty-three percent started street life between the ages 6-10 years old.

c. The street children were not very mobile. Eighty-five percent had frequented only one or two places, while 48 percent had only frequented two places for at least 12-48 months.

d. Usual “hangouts” or “territories” were shopping centers, market places, terminals, 100 supermarkets of vendors peddlers, carwashers/carwatchers and shoeshine boys.

6. Experience on the Street

a. Seventy-six percent of the respondents perceived life as risky and hazardous, perceiving such risks as possible vehicular accidents and sexual, physical and financial exploitations.

7. Needs

a. Money for basic needs and access to education were the two most important needs of the street children. Some also expressed their desire to go back to their families and be protected from all forms of exploitation in the streets.

b. Fifty-four percent felt their needs were met while 45 percent felt they were not met.

8. Peer Relations

a. A Street child usually had friends ranged from one to more than six friends.

b. Activities with friends included wholesome, safe and healthy indoor and outdoor activities. Popular among the males were ball games and swimming. These were often done in nearby courts and open spaces in the community or in areas close to work. Very few deviant-type of activities were mentioned.

c. Majority reported that their common activities consisted of healthy games and sports. A few, however, reported smoking, drinking, and gambling.

9. Gang Membership

a. Of the 400 respondents, only 10.8 percent were members of a gang. Their ages ranged from 12-15 years old. Among the more popular reasons for joining gangs were protection and the sense of security gangs provided including the opportunity to bully other street children.

b. Seventy respondents admitted having been arrested and detained. The frequency of arrests ranged from one to more than five times. During detention, 90 percent of the respondents reported receiving physical and mental/psychological punishments, ranging from the mild to the severe ones. Most arrests were due to curfew violations and suspicion of theft.

10. Values and Aspirations

a. Seventy-six percent were happy with their present situation while twenty-four percent claimed the opposite. Reasons cited for being happy were predominantly family-oriented in nature. Reasons given for being unhappy likewise focused on the non-provision of personal and family needs.

b. Fifty percent desired to continue or finish schooling. Nineteen percent would like to work full-time and 3.5 percent preferred to work while studying. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents believed that studying and working very hard would greatly help in achieving their aspirations, not to mention assistance from government agencies and saving for the future.

c. As their work in the streets has served as their primary source of income, these pursuits would thus continue to help them achieve their goals in life. Because of the economic rewards of street life, close to half of the respondents still preferred to stay on the streets. However, if there were less exhausting, safer and better opportunities, respondents would rather stay otu of the streets because of the risks and hazards.

d. If given the choice, the respondents’ strongest desire was to earn a degree. to make this possible, more than half were willing to study and work at the same time. This goal was reflected in the respondents’ preference for white collar jobs over manual/mechanical/technical ones.It also reflected the street child’s desire to help in his siblings’ education, to find a stable, better paying and lighter work, and to be of service to his community.

11. Awareness of Institutions for Street Children

a. Two-thirds of the respondents had no knowledge of any institutions for street children. Among those (37.5% or 150 respondents) who professed knowledge of institutions for street children, a fourth admitted having been referred to such institutions while the rest claimed otherwise.

b. Two types of institutions were generally identified by the forty (40)respondents referred to such institutions, namely the drop-in centers (67.5%) and the temporary shelter-type (32.5%).

c. Of the 400 respondents, 40 percent had availed of services from other agencies while 60 percent reported they had not. Among these services, education (38.1%), food (31.3%) and clothing (30.6%) were the most common services availed by the respondents.

Recommendations

In the light of the foregoing findings, the following recommendations are proposed:

A. Policy

1. NGOs’ and GO’s should be able to coordinate well with the police to come up with guidelines and policies regarding the protection of the children in the street.

The children interviewed have reported security as a problem in the streets , specifically security from other street children and from police actions. There must be a better way of dealing with children who have been involved in theft and other deviant acts. They should not be given the chance to become criminals by associating with other criminals in the street or in any detention center.

2. The DECS, together with the other agencies concerned with educating the street children, should be able to design programs and policies to help street children who desire to complete their education. Many of them expressed their desire to become doctors, nurses, teachers and employees in other white collar occupations. Their education should not be limited to free tuition fees. Serious thought should be given to finding a way so that street children who want to attain higher education do not have to earn a living in the streets to be able to support themselves and do not have to worry about financial assistance from other agencies.

3. The government should also provide policies that would institutionalize alternative types of education that would cater to children who have difficulty submitting to formal educational structures.

Some considerations are literacy and numeracy, value formation, manpower development and employment needs.

4. The root cause of the proliferation of children in the streets of Davao City is poverty. Many parents have no or insufficient work and so children have been forced to go to the streets. Policies on the encouragement of cooperatives and private enterprises utilizing the unemployed or underemployed in depressed communities may be helpful. However, the program should also take into consideration manpower training programs to provide street children the appropriate skills. Better economic strategies should be considered to generate more employment. Respondents revealed that their parents have low income since most of their occupations are low paying.

B. Research

1. On the average, the respondents were 12 years old and had at least some education. They are potential manpower resources of our country who need to be polished and enriched. Some strategies must be used to make them more productive. However, a study on their willingness to be developed, to organize into cooperatives, their leadership capabilities and their productive potentials must be looked into for policy and action.

2. It is also worthwhile to evaluate the educational programs that have= been introduces by the GOs and NGOs. Have they contributed to the education of street children? What are the strengths and limitations of such programs? Cost benefit analysis of such programs needs to be undertaken.

3. The street children are basically community based. They live with their families at the end of the day and parents exercise control over their children. Given this background, a study on the attitude of parents towards their children’s future their role in shaping their future and their willingness to get involved in community endeavors would be worthwhile looking into. Are they receptive to a participatory approach to community development? Are they willing to volunteer their time in such undertakings? What are their attitudes towards cooperatives? What problems do they foresee with such an approach? This study will provide the program implementors insights on the strategies to utilize in assisting communities where street children proliferate.

C. Action

1. A Multidisciplinary team consisting of all the agencies involved with street children should be called to assess the program and policies on street children in Davao City. This would clarify the framework which government and the private sector should work on to respond to the needs of street children.

Appendix
[Refer to the PDF File]
Page 17-24

Correlates of Political Efficacy among College Teachers of Selected Schools in Davao City

Introduction

People participation is one clear expression of the sovereignty in a democracy. It is a clear principal in a democracy means by which consent is granted or withdrawn and rulers are made accountable to the ruled. This participation takes varied forms such as voting, lobbying, membership in political organizations, and joining protest activities like rallies, demonstration and sending of petition letter to proper government authorities on matters of public concern.

Studies have shown that one of the means by which participation can be anticipated is by knowing the citizens’ disposition towards political decision-making. Scientific inquiries have shown that political efficacy has been observed to be particularly fruitful in explaining the citizens’ political involvement. Political efficacy refers to the citizen’ feeling that an individuals and the public as a whole can have an impact on the political process because government institutions will respond to their needs.

Serious economic and political reverses in the country during the 70’s and the 80’s had spawned massive resistance among those who were hard hit. This included the launching of strikes, demonstrations, rallies, and pickets among other political courses of action. These mobilizations were largely headed by peasants, laborers, and students.

The post 1983 period saw the rise in militancy of the once passive segment of the population. Not unlike the other sectors, teachers had joined the mainstream of protest movements.’ The subsequent years saw teachers meeting the difficult economic situation with greater restiveness. Teachers’ organizations have since been formed to look into the welfare of teachers such as the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the Philippine Public School Teachers Association.

However, most of these organizing and advocacy efforts on the national and local levels have involved mainly the public elementary and secondary school teachers. A similar pattern can be observed in Davao City where most of the mobilizations launched or where participated in by the members of the Association of Classroom Teachers and mentors of Davao City High School.
In a place like Davao City, noted for its militant and critical appraisal of government policies and programs, little was heard about whether there was any college teachers’ involvement in activities seeking to influence government decisions.

If the involvement of the elementary and secondary school teachers in the assertion of opinions or feelings regarding sectoral and national concerns, which oftentimes brings about a consequent government response, is illustrative of their sense of power potential to affect government decisions, what then does the limited participation of college teachers in all these activities speak of with regard to their political efficacy? Does this indicate that college teachers are less confident of their political competence?
Statement of the Problem
In the light of these realities, the study discussed here aimed to answer the following questions:
1. What is the level of political efficacy of college teachers from selected private colleges of Davao City?

a. What are the factors that affected such political efficacy?

b. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and sex?

c. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and income?

d. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and area of specialization?

e. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and political interest?

f. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and participation in elections?

g. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and participation in campaign-related activities?

h. Is there any relationship between political efficacy and perception on fundamental political and economic issues such as US Military Bases, Foreign Debt policies and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)?
Objectives of the Study
1. To determine the level of political efficacy of college teachers.

2. To determine if there is any significant relationship between political efficacy and each of the following variables: sex, area of specialization, income, political interest, participation in elections, participation in campaign-related activities, and perception on political and economic issues such as US Military Bases, Foreign Debt, and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Theoretical Framework
The framework of this study was anchored on the combination of Milbrath’s model on participation and the democratic theory’s developmental orientation in participation. In his incisive analysis on political participation, Milbrath came out with four general factors related with the subject such as stimuli, personal factors, political setting, and social position. These factors affected political behavior partly through providing motivations opportunities and setting boundaries and through cognitive learning of the individual about his political world’ Hence, three of these factors were chosen as the basis of determining the antecedents of political efficacy. This was because of the apparent influence these factors seemed to have on political efficacy.

On the other hand, participatory theorists like Pateman and Thompson believe that participation is not only instrumental in nature, but also developmental, furthering certain desirable individual qualities and attitudes such as political self-competence quite apart from achieving any concrete political objective.5 Independent of utilitarian considerations, studies abroad had shown that voting, campaigning and protest actions exert influence in political efficacy; thus, the use of these factors became determinants of political efficacy.

Based on the preceding discussion, political efficacy was viewed in this study as a function of personal and situational factors. Personal factors included socio-economic characteristics, politicization and perception of issues. Situational factors referred to participation in politics which was very much a function of the political setting.

Socio-economic characteristics define the person’s social status and socialization towards politics. This status difference implies not only that some persons have more of the goods of life than others but also that some persons are looked up to more than others. Because of this, those of high status are generally considered more politically efficacious than those of low status.

Politicization is the amount of interest in, knowledge about and conceptual sophistication with regard to politics, achieved by a person.6 Politicization is indicative of the individual’s political efficacy. This is because those who are interested in politics expose themselves more to stimuli about politics, resulting in an increase of their political knowledge. This makes them feel more confident about their capability to influence political affairs. It can be deduced then that there is greater likelihood for the politicized individual to feel more efficacious. In this study political interest served as the politicization variable.

Perceptions towards fundamental political and economic issues are reflections of one’s political attitude. They indicate cognitions about, and positive or negative feelings towards political-economic issues. Issues which are fundamental to national interest evoke citizens’ attitudes towards them, activating the value system in a manner affecting one’s sense of competence in influencing government processes. In this study, the fundamental issues chosen were U.S. Military Bases, Foreign Debt policies and Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Essential to participation in politics is the nature of one’s political setting. This means that the availability of channels for participation and the responsiveness of the political system to the people’s needs affect the individual’s perception of his/her capability to influence the system. Individuals who perceive the system as responsive to people will be more likely to believe that they personally have skills to induce government officials to act.

Another consideration in this discussion is the nature of the political system. When it is in crisis, a kind of spontaneous reaction from the people can be seen as they deliberately engage in direct activities to alter the course of events. A study in France found that crises increased interest and psychological involvement in the election.8 The Snap Election and the EDSA event in 1986, which saw the massive participation of people, was one vivid illustration of this influence of crises on political interest and involvement. Crisis induces one to get involved and might eventually make one feel efficacious.

Specifically, participation in politics helps the individual actualize his potential or realize his identity as a citizen. The issue is, which of the conventional and unconventional modes of participation most likely enhance actualization of power potential. As such, political efficacy is seen as the key link between participation and a more general sense of self-development or self-realization, since high levels of efficacy make it more likely for the individual to participate in the future, and thus develop his/her character in a more active, effective way in politics and other areas of social life. Political efficacy as a psychological predisposition has been found in various studies to be associated with the following antecedent variables:

Sex. In the study of Almond and Verba males were found to be more likely to develop a feeling of political efficacy. This trend could perhaps be attributed to the conditioning process that the sexes’ underwent. The socialization process was geared to discourage girls from involvement and success in pursuits that required ambition, daring, or inquisitiveness while males were encouraged to be competent, to hide their emotions, to make culture rather than to make love. Included in this socialization process was the fostering of the sexes’ characteristic traits for modeling effects, where femininity
required that a woman be kind, cheerful, affectionate, sensitive, and nice while masculinity required a man to be tenacious, curious, ambitious, responsible, original, and competitive. The result of this conditioning in the woman’s political mentality was such that many of them expressed a negative sense of political competence. Even when women were able to overcome negative images and ran for and were elected to public office, the feminine myth was not left behind so that many of them enjoyed less influence and were less active than their male peers in whatever political bodies they served in.

Income. Political efficacy is a factor of political sophistication. With money, one can afford all the possible opportunities of learning that may enable one to make fine discrimination in his conception of politics. Moreover, higher class persons are more likely to perceive that they have a stake in politics and are therefore also more likely to interact with political persons, objects, and events. This gives them greater knowledge of and more sophistication about politics than persons of low socio-economic status. Besides, dominance in one aspect of social life produces a sense of control and effectiveness, which can be generalized to the political sphere.”

Area of Specialization. According to Prewitt education, other than providing the citizen with the necessary skills and tools for exercising political prerogatives, also contributes to a general sense of security conducive to interacting with forces beyond the comfortable sphere of the familiar.” Specifically, the area of specialization defines the realm where the individual has greater knowledge, because of the concentration of studies and exposure undergone. The greater the relatedness of one’s field of specialization to political issues, the more individual has knowledge and capability to understand politics. Based on this, it can be assumed that the area of specialization, particularly the liberal arts, has a great influence on the amount of political exposure the individual can have; hence, there is the likelihood of a more positive assessment of one’s political worth.

Political interest. Political interest refers to the psychological involvement of the individual to invest in and attach to a political phenomenon. Political interest is related to one’s sense of political efficacy.” This is because personality dispositions, like efficacy, exert their primary influence on those areas and objects which the individual has defined as being meaningful.” This line of reasoning is supported by Levinson’s dictum that the more politics matter, the more likely it is that political behavior will express enduring inner values and dispositions.

Perception on Political and Economic Issues. Political knowledge refers to the amount of information and understanding the individual holds of political matters. Lane’s and Robinson” found that the person who felt politically efficacious possessed more knowledge about politics.

In this study however, it was the individual’s perception towards political and economic issues, instead of political knowledge that was linked to the sense of political efficacy. This was because such cognition of an individual about an object is influenced by his feelings and action tendencies towards that object. Thus, an individual who has a favorable attitude towards government issues, most likely perceives them positively. It has been observed that if an individual holds a positive attitude towards a given object, he will be disposed to help or reward or support the object.

Political Participation Theorists of participatory democracy advance the belief that participation in the making of decisions tends to raise one’s sense of political efficacy and other skills and resources for effective participation.” McClosky posits the same findings saying that the relationship of participation to actual or imagined efficacy can be demonstrated, although the influence patterns are somewhat circular.”

A feeling of political efficacy facilitated participation in any of these types of political activities. On the other hand, empirical evidence showed differing relationships between political efficacy and unconventional political participation. For instance, protesting was another kind of political participation and since the more efficacious participate more, they were also more prone to protest when the occasion arose. Alternately, a person who felt politically efficacious might have felt that it was unnecessary or illegitimate to engage in protest, or, the relationship might have been so complicated by additional variables that no bivariate relationship could be expected between efficacy and protest. In this study, it was hypothesized that participation in such activities directly affected political efficacy.”

Significance of the Study
The data obtained from this study could help identify variables that would influence teachers’ involvement in the political culture. Such information would be of value to government because a wide distribution of efficaciousness implies that citizens feel they have a reserve of influence, whether exerted or not. Likewise it is also of merit to the democratic system to realize that political participation, unaccompanied by political confidence, may turn a democratic election or any democratic exercise into an act of manipulation instead of a process of consent.
Delimitations of the Study

The study focused on political efficacy and factors affecting it. Due to time constraints this study limited itself to the level of political efficacy of fulltime college teachers from selected private schools in Davao City, specifically Davao Doctors’ College, Ateneo de Davao University, San Pedro College, and University of Mindanao. Fulltime teachers were preferred due to the nature of their schedules and easy availability as they were required to stay in school for a certain period of time.

These teachers should have had at least one year or more teaching experience with the covered institutions and have been more likely available for interview. Since some of the questions in the study were relatively politically sensitive, it was presumed that teachers who had been in the institution for more than a year might feel more comfortable answering the questions.

Dearth of local studies on political efficacy constrained the researchers to use foreign materials.

Definition of Terms
Political Efficacy. This refers to “the feeling that individual political action did have, or could have, an impact upon the political process; it was the feeling that political and social change was possible, and that the individual citizen could play a part in bringing about this change”. It should be noted that this concept has two dimensions, internal and external efficacy.2′

Internal efficacy refers to the individuals’ self-perception that they are capable of understanding politics and that they are competent enough to participate in political acts.22 External efficacy denotes the feeling that the individual and the public can have an impact on the political process because government institutions will respond to their needs.23

In this study, political efficacy was measured by the responses “strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree”, and “strongly disagree” to certain statements indicating one’s sense of political worth and perception of the governmental system’s responsiveness to the polity. These responses were interpreted as “Strongly Agree” (Very Efficacious), “Agree” (Efficacious), “Disagree” (Inefficacious) and “Strongly Disagree” (Very Inefficacious).

Research Method

The study used the survey-method. It was an exploratory and a relational study.

Research Instrument

A structured interview schedule, written in English, was used for the gathering of primary data. It should be noted that the interview schedule was pretested in the schools where the survey was con-ducted among teachers other than those taken as a sample. Its purpose was to determine the validity of the statements. Furthermore, questions which were redundant, vague and confusing were modified. Consequently, feedback from the pretest activities was considered in the revision and finalization of the instruments.

Locale of the Study

Four schools (Ateneo de Davao University, Davao Doctors’ College, San Pedro College and University of Mindanao) were included in the study based on the following considerations: 1) these schools share comparative features in terms of course offerings; and 2) they are located at the city center and are accessible to the researcher.

Unit of Analysis
The respondents of the study were the full-time college faculty members of the 4 selected private schools in Davao City who had at least one-year of experience in the school where they were presently employed.

Generally, teachers were chosen because teaching, being a noble profession, undeniably exercises a very strong influence in the formation of public opinion. College teachers were chosen because they exhibited minimal participation in political advocacy work, unlike their elementary and secondary counterparts. It was the presumption of this study that, since college teachers could influence others, this influence could be extended by their actual involvement in the political system. Specifically, with the minimal participation exhibited by college teachers in political advocacy work in the past, knowledge of their political efficacy might have explanatory uses.

Sampling Design

A combination of purposive and stratified random sampling procedures was employed in the study. To ensure representation of different areas of specialization, the private schools were categorized into medical and non-medical schools. From each category of schools, two were chosen, based on the similarity of their course offerings and accessibility. The private schools which offered medical oriented courses included Brokenshire College, Davao Doctors’ College, and San Pedro College. On the other hand, private colleges which offered non-medically oriented schools were Immaculate Concepcion College, Ateneo de Davao University, Holy Cross of Davao College, Rizal Memorial College, University of Mindanao, Philippine Womens’ college and Agro Industrial College. SPC and DDC were selected from the medical schools, while ADDU and UM were chosen from the non-medical schools.

From each selected school, a list of fulltime faculty members with at least one year teaching stint in the institution was obtained. These teachers were then classified by field of specialization such as Liberal Arts, Natural Science and Engineering, Nursing, Medical Technology and Nutrition, and Accountancy and Business Administration and by sex.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Personal Characteristics

The majority of the respondents from the four schools (63 percent) were less than 41 years old, and only 8.1 percent were over 50 years old. The average age was 37.34 years. This distribution pattern revealed that the profession is becoming increasingly dominated by the young.

A comparison of schools showed that teachers of Davao Doctors College formed a younger group. Almost all of them (95.6) were below 41 years. Ateneo de Davao University respondents comprised the older group. More than half of them (55.8 percent) were within the age bracket of 41-50 years. However, the oldest respondents, aged 50 years and above (19 percent), were found in the University of Mindanao. The difference in the age composition of teachers in these schools could be further seen in their mean age. The mean age was 40.9 for the University of Mindanao, 39.8 for Ateneo de Davao, 31.6 for San Pedro College, and 29.4 for Davao Doctors’ College.

More than three-fourths of the respondents were married. A significant number of them (22 percent) were still single. There was a negligible percentage of separated and widowed respondents (.6 percent and .6 percent respectively). Specifically, in all schools, most of the respondents were married. These findings implied that most of the respondents had dependents relying on their income.

Area of Specialization
Most of the respondents were in the field of Natural Science/Engineering and Social Science/Humanities (35.8 percent and 27.7 percent respectively). This was followed by those in the field of Nursing, Medical Technology and Nutrition (22.6 percent). The least number (13.9 percent) were those found in the Accountancy and Business Administration courses. San Pedro and Davao Doctors’ College offer no program in B.S. in Accountancy and BA, hence, they had no faculty in these fields. Davao Doctors’ College had no respondent from Social Science because their teachers in the field were part-time.

Household Monthly Income

The household monthly income of the respondents ranged from P1,700 to P102,000. The biggest group (28.3 percent) had an income within the range of P5,000 to P9,999. The overall average household monthly income was P14,464. The respondents from the University of Mindanao had the highest average monthly household income, P17,126.00 while those from Davao Doctors’ College had the least, P10,914.00. These data show that the teachers of these schools were at an income level way above that of the poverty threshold of P4,997.00 per month (Daily Globe, November 11, 1991:6).

Political Interest

The respondents’ political interest was determined through their responses to a series of statements. They were made to check one of the choices, namely, “very often”‘ “often”, “not often” /”not very often” and “very important”/”important”, “not important”/”not very important”. Responses of “very often”/”often” and “very important”/”important” indicated political interest while “not often” /”not very often”, “not important/not very important” indicated political disinterest. Hence, the average weighted score of “5” and “4” implied political interest while “3” and “2” implied political disinterest and “1” indicated “undecided”.

The respondents were found to be generally interested in politics with a mean of 3.84. The degree of political interest varied slightly among respondents from the different schools. Those from Davao Doctors’ College and Ateneo de Davao University had almost the same degree of political interest with a weighted mean of 4 and 3.9 respectively. This was followed by those from University of Mindanao and San Pedro College with average weighted scores of 3.8 and 3.7, respectively.

Getting into the dimensions of their political interest, it was found that the respondents considered it possible that they could help change national policies and personally understand political issues, affairs and events with average weighted scores of 4.1 and 4.4 respectively. Furthermore, they also got equally affected about political matters or issues as they did about something in their personal life as indicated by the average weighted score, 3.73. However, their political disinterest became evident in the fact that they spared less time in thinking about influencing government decisions with a weighted mean of 3.1.

Perception of the US Bases.

Specifically, the respondents in agreement that the bases were andispensable to the country’s development (weighted mean = 3.5). But, at the same time, they viewed them as an instrument of US intervention in the country’s domestic affairs (weighted mean = 3.0) which could not in a way be justified (weighted mean = 3.3). Likewise, the respondents were of the opinion that removal of the bases could help facilitate global peace (weighted mean = 3.0).

Foreign Debt
Foreign Debt statements 1, 3 and 4 were rated using a five-point rating scale where “5” meant “strongly agree”, “4” implied “agree”, “3” suggested “disagree”, “2” denoted “strongly disagree” and “1” indicated “undecided”. On the other hand, the values were reversed for statement 2, i.e. “2” implied “strongly agree”, “3” meant “agree and SO forth.

The mean scores for the four statements for each respondent were then derived to get the mean score for the 173 respondents. The average weighted score of “5” and “4”, which denoted “favorability”, implied proximity of respondents’ perception and government’s position as regards the issue. The average weighted score of “3 and 2” – which denoted unfavorability, was illustrative of distance of the respondents’ opinion from that of the government.

It appeared from the data that the respondents viewed the issue of foreign debt unfavorably (weighted mean = 2.8). Those from Ateneo de Davao University had the most unfavorable attitude (weighted mean = 2.6). To illustrate this, respondents did not approve of an economic recovery program dependent on the increasing foreign debt (weighted mean = 2.8). This might be because of the lingering crisis despite the magnitude of foreign debt incurred. They even viewed the consequences of the Letter of Intent submitted to the International Monetary Fund as inducing further economic difficulties among the majority of the people (weighted mean = 2.6). Considering the current economic crisis, the respondents disapproved of a policy to honor and pay all foreign debts. (weighted mean = 3.4). Cognizant of the foreign debt’s impact on the economy and the responsibility it imposed on the citizenry, respondents were of the opinion that all negotiations with the foreign institutions appurtenant to this must be made known to the people (weighted mean = 2.4)

The above data implied the belief that the conditionalities attached to foreign debt borrowing had not brought about the desired national development its proponents had hoped to achieve. Considering its consequences on the economy, it was felt by the respondents that all negotiations and resultant agreements appurtenant thereto must be conducted with greater transparency.

Perception of CARP
The attitude of respondents on the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program was identified by soliciting their opinions on four statements.

All of the statements were rated using a five-point rating scale where “5” meant “strongly agree”, “4” implied “agree”. “3” suggested “disagree”, “2” denoted “strongly disagree” and “1” indicated “undecided”. On the other hand, the values were reversed for statement 2, i.e. for “2” implied “strongly agree”, “3” meant “agree” and so forth.

The mean scores for the 4 statements for each respondent were then derived to get the mean score for the 173 respondents. Thus, the average weighted score of “5 and 4” which suggested “favorability” implied proximity of the respondents’ perception on government’s position as regards the issue. While the average weighted score of “3 and 2”, which means unfavorability, is illustrative of distance of opinion from that of the government.

The respondents had an unfavorable attitude about the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (weighted mean —– 2.9). This perception was almost at the same degree across the board (ADDU, 2.8; DDC, 3.0; SPC, 2.9; and UM, 2.8). The respondents believed that the law had loopholes which landowners might use to avoid its full intent (weighted mean = 2.8). This made RA 6657 ineffective as a measure to promote a genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform program (weighted mean = 3.1). In addition to this, the respondents viewed the government as inadequately equipped to undertake successful implementation of CARP (weighted mean = 2.9). The perceived insubstantial amount of private lands distributed to landless tillers since 1988 pointed to this ineptness (weighted mean = 2.6).

Level of Efficacy

The feeling of inefficacy with regard to this issue was widespread among the respondents (weighted mean, 3.2). The 4 schools shared the same level of political impotency (weighted mean, 3.2) accept for Ateneo de Davao University. A closer look at the two dimensions of inefficacy showed that the respondents’ internal inefficacy was slightly higher (weighted mean, 3.4) than external inefficacy (weighted mean, 3.2).

The following presented indications of internal efficaciousness: First, the respondents found politics easy to under-stand (weighted mean, 3.0). Second, they felt competent enough to participate in political decision-making (weighted mean, 3.8). And third, they felt they had an idea to share in solving today’s problems. However, the respondents greatly doubted their capability to do a better job in public office than the incumbents (weighted mean, 2.9). On the other hand, results with regard to external efficacy showed that the respondents felt summarily inefficacious in all of the presented statements.

Consistent with the findings on the level of political efficacy, the majority of the respondents were found to be inefficacious (inefficacious, 46.8 percent and extremely inefficacious, 25.4 percent). The same trend held true for all areas of study. San Pedro College had the most number of inefficacious respondents (inefficacious, 54.5 percent and extremely inefficacious, 27.3 percent) while Ateneo de Davao University had 32.5 percent.

Participation in Elections: 1986 Presidential and 1987 Congressional/Local Elections.

This part of the study tried to gauge the extent of the respondents’ participation in conventional political activities through their responses to questions on participation in 1986 presidential election and 1987 congressional/local election and campaign-related activities. Respondents were asked to answer whether they participated or not in the specified elections. An answer of “yes” to the election question indicated participation and “no”, non-participation.

The majority of the respondents (89 percent) participated in the 1986 presidential election. The school from where most of the respondents (95.6 percent) participated was Davao Doctors’ College and the least (81.4 percent) was from Ateneo de Davao University. The same degree of involvement was manifested by the respondents in the last congressional and local election. The majority (90.2 percent) participated in the said election. As in the presidential election, most of those who participated (95.7 percent) were from Davao Doctors’ College but the least (81.8 percent) were from San Pedro College.

Participation in Campaign-Related Activities.

For this variable, respondents were made to check one of the choices, namely, “more often”, “for once/twice” or “never”, to a series of statements. Responses of “more often” were construed as very participative, “for once/twice” as participative and “never”, not participative. Hence, the average weighted score of “3” meant very participative, “2” participative and “1” not participative.

The respondents barely participated at all campaign-related activities with the average weighted score of 1.5. Among these activities it was only in persuading other people to vote for a particular party candidate that the respondents had minimal participation with the average weighted score of 1.9.

Participation in Non-conventional Political Activities.

The respondents’ participation in non-conventional political activities was determined through their response to a series of statements. They were asked to check one of the choices namely “more often”, “for once/twice” or “never”. Responses of “more often” was construed as very participative, “for once/twice” as participative and ”never” as not participative. Hence, the average weighted score of “3” meant very participative, “2” participative and “1” not participative.

On the whole, respondents had very limited participation in non-conventional political activities with the average weighted score of 1.4. This trend held true especially for three schools (DDC = 1.4, SPC = 1.2 and UM =1.2). Ateneo de Davao University respondents showed a slightly higher though still minimal participation in non-conventional political activities (1.7).

Specifically, respondents expressed minimal participation in march rallies as indicated by the average weighted score of 1.7. There were three respondents from Ateneo de Davao University who admitted having participated in unconventional political activities such as sending letters of inquiry or protest letters to government, participation in march rallies, involvement in peaceful demonstrations and in supporting transport strikes Welga ng Bayan.

Area of Specialization and Political Efficacy. The findings showed that the majority of the respondents felt they did not count in the political process. Out of 170, 79 considered themselves inefficacious and 44, extremely inefficacious. The highest percentage of those who belonged to this category (inefficacious, 52.5 percent and extremely inefficacious, 24.6 percent) were teachers of NS, Math and Engineering. On the other hand, half of those in Accountancy and Business Administration (50 percent) were found to be efficacious. The highest percentage of extremely inefficacious respondents could be observed among the Nursing, Medical Technology and Nutrition faculty comprising 35.9 percent.

Chi-square results (x2=10.85) showed that there was no significant relationship between area of specialization and political efficacy. Thus, the hypothesis that these two variables were not related to each other was confirmed.

Henceforth, while area of specialization, specifically Liberal Arts, could enhance one’s understanding of politics, still the study pointed out that it had no direct bearing on political efficacy.

Average Household Income and Political Efficacy. The findings showed that the majority of the respondents were not only inefficacious but extremely inefficacious. Out of 149, 69 were inefficacious and 39 extremely inefficacious, regardless of their income level. However, the trend indicated that there were more of those who be-longed to the low income level that were in this category. Those with income level of P4,999.00 and less were found out to be inefficacious (55 percent) and extremely inefficacious (22.5 percent). Those with an income level of P5,000.00 – P9,999.00 (43.5 percent), were found to be inefficacious and 28.2 percent manifested extreme inefficaciousness.

The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r = 0.62) indicated that a moderate relationship existed between income and political efficacy. As such, 38.42 percent of the variation in political efficacy could be attributed to income. The t-test result (t-test result = 9.8) likewise pointed out a significant relationship between these two variables, hence confirming the hypothesis that income and political efficacy were significantly correlated. This seemed to suggest that wealth affected political power in this country.

Political Interest and Political Efficacy. More than two-third s of the respondents were interested in politics (124 out of 170) and a minimal number (8 out of 170) even found politics very interesting. The trend showed that regardless of their political interest, the majority of the respondents were inefficacious. However, the correlation result indicated otherwise. The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r = 0.472) are revealed that there was a moderate relationship between the respondents’ interest in politics and their sense of political efficacy. The result of the t-test (6.94) attested to the significance of this relationship. Hence, politically interested respondents tended to be more efficacious. As indicated in the column data, most of those who were efficacious (39 out of 47) were interested in politics. However, coefficient of determination results showed that only 22.28 percent in the variation of political efficacy could be accounted to their political interest.

Perceptions of Fundamental National Issues and Political Efficacy. In the attempt to see the relationship between perception on fundamental national issues and political efficacy, three fundamental issues were chosen, namely: the Military Bases, Foreign Debt and the CARP.

The attitudinal direction of the respondents towards the U.S. Military Bases was one of unfavorability (out of 169, 45 have unfavorable and 47 had very unfavorable perceptions). Correlation results (r = 0.686) indicated the existence of a direct relation between the two variables, thus, confirming the hypothesis that the respondents’ perception on the issue of U.S. Military Bases was significantly related to political efficacy.

The largest number of the respondents expressed unfavorability of attitude towards the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (out of 170, 54 had unfavorable and 59 had very unfavorable perceptions). Correlation results (r = 0.854) indicated a direct relation between the two variables. This confirmed the hypothesis that the respondents’ perception on the issue of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program was significantly related to political efficacy.

This strong relationship between the said variables was further reinforced by the result of the coefficient of determination. It showed that 72.93 percent in the variation of political efficacy was explained by the respondents’ perception of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Most of the respondents had unfavorable attitude towards the government’s Foreign Debt policies (57 out of 169 unfavorable and 70 out of 169 very unfavorable). Of those with unfavorable attitude 443 percent were inefficacious and 34.3 percent were extremely inefficacious. Those with favorable attitude in the same categories comprised 52.4 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively. The result of Pearson’s (r = .554) revealed that a significant relationship existed between respondents’ perception on the issue of Foreign Debt Policies and political efficacy. The coefficient of determination showed that 30.69 percent of the variation in political efficacy was attributed to the respondents’ perception of government’s position on the issue of Foreign Debt.

Correlation results thus illustrated that those who had unfavorable attitudes had the greatest tendency to be inefficacious. One plausible explanation could be that such attitudes earmarked an ideological distance between the individual and the government. This meant that the respondents’ cognition of the issue was relatively isolated from that of the government on the same matter. It should be noted that an ideological convergence existed where there was interconnectedness in the perception of both on the same issue. This trend then implied that since the individual did not share the government’s perspective on issues and policy positions he would find such a difference an added difficulty in seeking to influence the outcome of government decisions. Furthermore, in a nation where public officials are basically perceived as unmindful of the ordinary people’s thoughts/opinion, such a lack of ideological unity would tend to reinforce the sense of inefficaciousness.

Participation in Election. The study results showed that majority of the respondents (143 out of 168) participated in the last 1986 presidential and 1987 congressional elections. They also showed that most of those who participated were the inefficacious and extremely inefficacious respondents (45.5 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively). On the other hand, the majority of the efficacious respondents (39 out of 47) also participated in the said elections. This finding illustrated that participation in the elections happened despite the respondents’ efficacy level. Chi-square results indicated that participation in elections and political efficacy were not significantly related, thereby confirming the null hypothesis.

Participation in Campaign-Related Activities. As a whole, more than half of the respondents (89 out of 170) were found to be not participative in campaign-related activities. The figures showed that in general the majority were inefficacious and extremely inefficacious. However, the biggest percentage of inefficacious respondents was among the “non-participative” (77.5 percent) and the lowest was among the “very participative” (66.7 percent). Coefficient (r = 0.321) indicated that there was a significant relation between participation in campaign-related activities and political efficacy. This confirmed the hypothesis that these two variables were significantly related to each other although at a moderate level. This suggested that participation in campaign-related activities might affect political efficacy, hence, those who participated in campaign activities tended to be efficacious. This was due to the fact that participation exerted both a lagged and direct effort on feelings of political efficacy.

However, results of coefficient determination showed that only 10.3 percent in the variation of political efficacy was explained by their extent of participation in campaign related activities. Still this trend showed that those with political efficacy were most likely to engage in more active forms of political participation such as campaign-related activities.

Participation in Unconventional Political Activities. More than half of the respondents (119 out of 170) did not engage in unconventional political activities. Figures showed that the majority of those who participated were inefficacious, 45.1 percent and extremely inefficacious, 21.6 percent. Likewise many of those who did not participate were also found to be inefficacious and extremely in-efficacious (47 percent and 28 percent, respectively). This meant that, regardless of the level of participation, the majority of the respondents were inefficacious. This was confirmed by the chi-square results (x2=2.83) which indicated that participation in unconventional political activities and political efficacy were not significantly related.

Summary of Findings

The major research findings, briefly stated were as follows:
I. Personal Factors

1. Respondents’ Background Characteristics

Majority of the respondents (63 percent) were found within the age range of 21 – 40 years. Their average age was 37.34 years. This showed that the teachers in the area of study were relatively young.

Females comprised 68.2 percent of the respondents. This finding illustrated that women were greater in number than their male counterparts in the rank of faculty among the selected schools.

The majority (76.9 percent) were married, implying that there are people depending on them and their income. The teachers of N.S., Math, Engineering and Social Science/ Humanities courses comprised the biggest number (35.8 percent) of the respondents while those in the B.S. Accountancy and Business Ad-ministration constituted the smallest percentage (13.8 percent).

The respondents had an average monthly household income of P14,464.00, an income level way above the poverty threshold of P4997 (Daily Globe,1991:6).

2. Political Interest

On the whole, the respondents found politics of salient interest (mean = 3.8). They found it particularly important to understand political issues, affairs and events (mean = 4.4) but were less interested in thinking about influencing government decisions (mean = 3.1).

3. Perception on Fundamental Political and Economic Issues

The respondents unfavorably perceived the government’s position on the U.S. Military Bases, Foreign Debt and Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program as indicated by the over-all mean (3.2, 2.8 and 2.9, respectively). This showed the difference between government’s and respondents’ perception on the issues.

II. Situational Factors

1. Respondents’ Participation in Election

The majority of the respondents participated in the 1986-87 presidential and congressional elections (89 percent and 90.2 percent, respectively). This implied that the respondents were most likely to get involved in passive political activities like elections.

2. Respondents’ Participation in Campaign-Related Activities

The respondents’ manifested a minimal participation (mean = 1.5) in campaign-related activities. It could be deduced that activities requiring more time, energy and effort and, open display of partisanship were those which they rarely found themselves getting involved in.

3. Participation in Unconventional Political Activities

The respondents displayed an extremely minimal participation (1.4) in unconventional political activities.

4. Level of Political Efficacy and Factors Affecting Political Efficacy

Generally, respondents were found to be inefficacious with the over-all mean computed at 3.2. Majority of them (79 out of 170) were in this category while a good number (44 out of 170) were found to be extremely inefficacious.

Based on the study’s working hypotheses, it was found that:

a. Political efficacy was not related to sex.
b. Political efficacy was not related to area of specialization.
c. Political efficacy was significantly related to income. The relationship shows that individuals with high income tend to be efficacious or those with less income less politically efficacious.
d. Political efficacy was significantly related to political interest. This meant that those who are interested in politics tended to be politically efficacious.
e. Political efficacy was not related to participation in elections.
f. Political efficacy was significantly related to participation in campaign-related activities. This implied that those who participated in campaign-related activities tended to be politically efficacious.
g. Political efficacy was not related to participation in unconventional political activities.
h. Political efficacy was significantly related to perception on issues such as US Military Bases, Foreign Debt and Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. This indicated that those who had a favorable attitude tended to be politically efficacious.

Conclusions

This study was able to establish the teacher-respondents’ political profile in the aspect of political interest, political activities engaged in and sense of political power. It was established in this study that respondents were politically inefficacious. This meant, they perceived themselves as in-

competent in influencing political outcomes largely because government leaders and institutions were perceived as unresponsive to their needs. This finding confirmed the reality component of political efficacy. The personal variables directly activating one’s orientation to-wards politics such as income, political interest and perception on fundamental political and economic issues have significant influences on political efficacy. On the other hand, unconventional modes of participation have no impact on political efficacy. However, conventional activities that demand more in terms of time, resource allocation and general cognitive activation such as campaign-related activities held a significant impact on political efficacy. This is because those who participated became more familiar with the system and developed ties, becoming more confident of their ability to achieve political results. By implication, the foregoing shows that individuals with high educational capabilities feel politically marginalized as shown by their level of political efficacy. If this happened to them, what can be expected then of the great mass of Filipinos with lesser educational qualification? This is symptomatic of an infantile democracy founded on shakey grounds. This means that at present we have a system with all the features of democracy other than a mass of citizenry who can claim to be truly sovereign. The widespread sense of political inefficacy among the respondents, who constitute a significant segment of this citizenry, points to such a claim.
In particular, these findings likewise illustrate one of the many road blocks the country’s educational system has to surmount if it is to effectively perform its distinct role in national transformation. In the light of the fact that teachers feel they do not count in the political processes, how can they effectively carry-out the avowed responsibility rested by the Constitution on the educational system, that is, for education to promote among others the values of patriotism and nationalism?

Recommendations
In the light of the foregoing findings, the following recommendations were proposed:

1. Considering the respondents’ perceived marginalization from the country’s political decision-making process, government must show more sincerity in accommodating people’s participation. This will require the institutionalization of channels for community participation in vital areas of concern directly affecting the people. Specifically, this can be done in varied forms such as getting the academic institution to assist the Department of Interior and Local Government in its Human Resource Development Program (e.g. Institute of Local Government Academy in Ateneo de Davao University). In an indirect way, faculty can also participate in the political processes through the Apprenticeship or Exposure Programs of students tied with the government. Directly, faculty committees, like a Committee on Anti-Pornography can directly link with its local government counterpart.

2. It was noted that respondents were interested in politics but found it hard to fully understand it. Hence, faculty development activities must include more activities that will sustain this interest and enhance political understanding. This may include political education activities such as symposia, fora, seminars and other similar endeavors. Of vital importance in this process of political conscientization is organized exposure in the communities outside of the academe.

3. Despite their interest in but unfavorable attitude towards fundamental national issues, teachers remained engaged in minimal efforts to effect changes. It can be of help if existing faculty organizations will also engage in activities that will provide political education to its members and eventually engage in collective advocacy work such as conscientization seminars on vital issues and lobbying in concerned government offices. It can also be of help if faculty will be encouraged to join people’s organizations.

4. Since this survey covered only college teachers from four schools in the city, a similar study should be conducted involving teachers in other levels of education for a more comprehensive political efficacy profile of the teachers. Similar studies should also be conducted with other sectors to be able to identify the state of efficaciousness among the citizenry.

5. Further study, that will probe into the political psyche of teachers, should. be made (i.e. role of teachers in the political arena, motivational bases of political behavior, etc.). In addition, it may prove to be more informative and useful if relationship between teaching performance and political efficacy of teachers can be established.

Ethnohistory and Culture Change among the Bagobos: Some Preliminary Findings*

Introduction

Ethnohistory is essentially the welding of contemporary ethic data to information obtained from historical documentation. Such an approach enables one to probe historical meaning or significance over and above the historical records, thereby enhancing one’s research to the point where one is allowed to traverse to historical continuum from one end to the other, or from past to present.

In another sense, ethnohistory is the collective experience of an ethnic group. The word ethnic refers to certain culture, Lingual, or physical characteristics that pertain to a group of individuals. Such agglomeration is usually small, and term ethnic group in the context of modern societies denotes minority groups, those small enclaves of traditional and pre-modern communities that have endured and are sometimes regarded as exotic and trouble survivors of a long, forgotten past.

The case for ethnohistory in Philippines historical writing is founded on one of the more critical issues in Philippines historiography today. Heretofore, Philippines history has strained to be understood in terms of what is historically meaning to Filipinos. The historical past purports to be a collective past, the totality of what is considered as the common experience of the Filipino as a people or nation.

Yet, the Filipino past is not a single, homogeneous experience. There has been a variety of historical stimuli to elicit a variety of historical responses and idiosyncratic experience even as the same or similar historical events produced unique responses. Ethnohistory rests its claims on Philippines ethnic plurality and seeks to understand the dynamism of ethnic traits and attributes vis-a-vis historical phenomena. The plurality of Philippines society today underlies the multiple cleavages that characterize its structure.The concept of ethnicity is that of small group identities that persist inspite of and at times, in utter disregard of the preeminent idea of nation or state. The challenge of non history is the challenge for every Filipino to grasp the totality and vastness of man experience. The totality and homogeneity of historical experience are not one and same thing.

The Bagobos at the Time of Spanish Contact

The original of the Bagobos lies, up to this time, veiled in anonymity. The state of prehistorical and archaeological research in Davao or for that matter the whole of Mindanao is such that historical Material regarding the origin of the various indigenous groups has remained niggardly and therefore insufficient. One of the two known archaeological survey conducted in southeastern Mindanao was the archaeological excavation of the Talikud Caves of Davao Province in 1972.The survey was reportedly a part of a long term program to explore and test archaeologically the broad triangular area from southeast Mindanao, northern Sulawesi, and the western end of Irian Jaya including Moluccas in order to investigate the movement of Austronesian-speaking peoples as well as the cultures that are found in the spread of Malay tradition.

The explorations in the Davao area were conducted in the provinces of Davao provinces, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur. The specific sites were some caves found on the island facing Davao City. Some of the finding are significant in that they purport to pertain to the pre-history of people in southeast Mindanao, and Solheim has proposed that the area of origin of proto-Austronesians was somewhere within the island area of Palawan island in the west, southern Mindanao, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya.

By and large the most significant finds in the Davao area were the rock sites of Talikud island to be the earliest sites of the excavation. The shell finds at the Talikud shelter were found to have been used over a considerable period of time.A few flaked stones not natural to the shelter suggested a flaked skill tradition the same as that of the west cost of Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago.

The Spanish Conquest of Davao

The conquest of Davao in 1849 allowed the Spaniards to make inroads into the Gulf’s vast interiors in search of trade and native converts who could be won over to populate the Christian settlements that were soon to be establish all over the Gulf area. Davao at the time was inhabited by native Muslims groups and those whom the Spaniards termed Infieles, the native who were neither Muslims nor Christian. Among these the Bagobos constituted one of the more numerous groups some of whom became the first Christian converts.

Up until the early 1880’s , the Spaniards had not sufficient acquainted themselves with their Bagobo converts to be able to describe them with any degree of familiarity except to note with mounting apprehension the fact that the Bagobos practiced human sacrifice. Towards the ends of this decade however, the presence of a more permanent missionary i.e,a parish priest in Davao enabled the missionaries to observe the Bagobos with a little more intimacy. By then a breaking through has been made in the recorded history of the Bagobos.

The Bagobos were found to be principal inhabitants of the Davao mountain range and in particular of Mt. Apo, a dormant volcano in whose folds the Bagobos built their rancherias or farmhouses. Along the coast they also lived in settlements such as Labo, Binugao, Cauit, Melilla etc., and in some like Daron, they lived along side other native groups. Both upland and lowland Bagobos were known to practice human sacrifice quite frequently, the object of their propitiatory activities being a local deity called Mandarangan, who together with his consort, Darago , was believe to love in the great volcano itself. The crater of this volcano is covered by a dense fog during most of the day and from its bowels columns of sulphur and smoke continually shoot up. Such a sight must have been most awesome for the Bagobos, evoking among them the first and primal stirrings of the ineffable. A Jesuit missionary in the 1860’s one described the crater as resembling an immense sacrificial altar.

The first visit of the Spaniards to a Bagobos house was in the house of Manib, Datu of Sibula. The visitors found themselves in a windowless tree-house, its dimly lit interiors offering few comforts. A platforms. A platform like elevation was the only architectural feature that intruded on the simplicity and modesty of the single chamber. On this platform, the guest were receive by Manib, surrounded by this family. In the presence of visitors, he took care to impress them with a display of his household wealth. The platform on which he and his family sat was covered with native women cloth or blankets while pieces of large Chinese porcelain plates were conspicuously at various points in the room alone with the agongs and other musical instruments. The plates and the agongs were highly priced goods. A native iron forge was likewise forge was likewise noted by the Spaniards.

The Spaniards were more impressed with the ancient genealogy of Manib, and his father Pangilan, a very old man at this time. The Spanish missionary placed the age of Pangilan at about a hundred years. As a young man he was said to have made a wedding present of 100 pairs of human ears, a token of a hundred human victims, to his bride. A few years later,when Pangilan died, Manip together with all his relatives refused to lift the lalaoan or periods of mourning until seven slaves had been sacrificed and their blood poured over Pangilan’s grave.

The Bagobos were distinguished from other native groups as being the most fastidious dressers.The Bagobo was always dressed elegantly from head to foot. Men and women were adorned with earings, necklaces, bracelets, armlets and anklets of beads,shells, or precious metals such a gold. Around the waist, they usually wore a wide belt of cloth on which are sewn hundreds of tiny bells cascading from the torso so that the least movement produced a pleasant and most fascinating sound. They matched their ornaments with a serious and regal air about them.

By now,it had become apparent that the Bagobo social structure was dominated by a warriors class known as magani, the Datu himself being chief magani among them. It was the Datu as magani who decided when to proclaim the yearly festivities that ended in sacrificing enemies and other human victims. Only magani participated in the rites of paghuaga. Although the social organization recognize the regional role of a shaman in the mabalian who performed the lesser rituals and ceremonies, it was the Datu who as chief magani officiated in the most important rites of the community.

A man’s aim in life was to become a magani, which was itself the very essence of manhood. He who has killed a number of his enemies was set off from the rest of the community by certain special tokens. He who has killed two or more persons was distinguished for the deed by being allowed to wear the blood-red shirt and the chocolate colored headgear. Those who have killed four were privileged to wear the blood-red trousers, and those who have killed up to six wore the complete outfit of blood-red shirt, trousers, headgear and in addition carry a small bag of the same color in which are placed betel nut and lime for chewing. The missionaries worked hard to stand out the practice but confessed that their efforts towards this bore little success,were strongly reminiscent of those that the Spaniards first saw in the Philippines in the 16th century. Instead of compact and permanent villages, the Bagobos lived in farmhouses set far apart from one another. The field were planted to rice, abaca and sugarcane, Among the men were artisans such as goldsmiths and carpenters while the women were weavers of abaca, piña, tindog, and wrought fine embroideries.

Almaciga, a local resin was the principal forest product which together with wax constituted the chief exports of the region. The Bagobos were known as keen traders and usually produced an excess of local manufacturers for purposes of trade. They traded hemp made from the native abaca, betelnut, knives, and other crafted tools as well as weapons from the native forge. Bagobo knives were highly priced for their fine craftsmanship. The incoming trade with the Muslims and Christian brought back iron posts, copper wires, Chinese porcelain, salt, and animals. Aside from the coastal trade with the Muslims Bagobos also traded with other native tribes in organized trade parties that visited other settlements after customary notices had been given.

Acculturation: The Contact Situation

From the start, the colonization and Christianization of the Bagobos was an uphill struggle that produced no appreciable gains for the first twenty or thirty years. This was largely due to the sporadic and intermittent patterns of contact that hardly enabled the Spanish presence to make any impact. Town-making proceeded at a slow.uncertain pace while the conversion of the native inhabitants lagged behind weighted down as it were by a malady chronic to the pacification of the Philippines in the early centuries of conquest -the remontados, those whom the Spaniards branded as apostates of the Catholic faith and fugitives of the Christian reducciones or settlements.

An exception to this dismal and frustating procedure was the settlement of Lobu. This was also a large coastal settlement of Bagobos along coast of the Gulf which in the 1880’s came close to fulfilling Spanish dreams of a model Christian settlement populated by native Bagobo converts. Lobu had fresh water springs, an excellent anchorage’ and a population that was more or less sedentary and already raising crops such as corn, tobacco,bananas, and root crops, In 1884, Lobu became the town of Sta. Cruz. The ceremonies in the founding of the new town were graced by the presence of the Government of Davao and his wife and made more impressive by the sight of the Spanish gunboat,”Gardoqui,” which brought the Spanish governor and his wife to the shores of the new town.

The founding of Lobu, a Jesuit into the Town of Sta. Cruz owed much to the effort of Fr. Matthew Gisbert, a Jesuit missionary who visited Davao for the first time in 1880, having inherited the charge of converting its infieles from Fr. Quirico More of the same Society of Jesus. Fr More had been the missionary of Davao for some time and had already built a chapel in the Bagobo settlement of Tuban. In the same year, Fr. Gisbert was able to persuade the Bagobos of Tagabuli, Binaton, and Balalon to form a reduccion in Lobu. The priest had agreed to live the Bagobos in Lobu endeavoring to root out their “infidelity” i.e., paganism. It must have been this condition that softened the resistance of the Bagobos and made them receptive to the idea of resettlement. In addition, the missionary had brought his own provisions: plenty of rice and other supplies. The Bagobos agreed to work in weekly turns receiving a share of the Father’s goods at the end of the week. After a month’s work they were able to clear a wide path from the shore to river Tabing, their source of drinking water . Then a chapel, dedicated to St. Joseph,was built. A school teacher, Angel Brioso, was appointed for the education of the children of the new settlement.

In 1898, when the Jesuits of Mindanao were called back to Manila due to the outbreak of the Philippines revolution, the town of Sta. Cruz was left in the care of Angel Brioso. For reasons unexplained in the missionary account, Angel Brioso, in collusion with other Visayan Christians and Muslims collaborators, destroyed the town left to his charge, melting its bell and other church items and afterwards dividing the metal between him and his friends. Brioso and his friends had previously declared themselves insurrectos or rebel.

When Fr. Gisbert returned to Sta. Cruz after the revolution, all that remained of his church were its posts. The greater and more productive part of the town had become the property of a certain Lt. Thomas who was the head of the first American military contingent to arrive in Sta. Cruz. The Lieutenant installed Angel Brioso as a municipal head of sorts of the town. Despite its setbacks,Fr. Gisbert was forced to concede that the town recovered and became once again prosperous by virtue of government fiat. The inhabitants were compelled to open new streets to make way for new establishment such as trading houses.The missionary account betrayed a tinge of sorrow as it noted the growing strength of Protestantism in Sta. Cruz from 1904 onward.

The story of Sibulan was not carefully chronicled unlike that of Sta. Cruz of Lobu Sibulan was made into a reduccion some time in 1876 and renamed Santillana. In 1889. Manib was arrested by cuadrilleros or soldiers of the colonial government for refusing to provide an auxiliary of Bagobos to aid in the capture of a Bagobo fugitive of the reduccion of Astorga. Manib was likewise charge with impeding the latter’s capture and was confined in the local jail for sometime.

Some Spanish authorities worried about the lack of prudence in the arrest and incarceration of a Bagobo datu with good reason. After Manib’s release the Spaniards that the Bagobos had sacrificed another human victims in the highlands of Sibulan and killed as well those who were responsible for the Datu’s humiliation. After this, Manib and his followers razed their field and abandoned their rancherias taking care to lay traps and snares along the path of their pursuers.

Impact of Colonization

The political evolution of Davao from the Spanish reducciones to the American towns and trade center meant the gradual weakening of the tradition of the traditional structures. In the 1920’s Bagobo culture began yielding almost imperceptibly to change. With the death of the old datus like Manib, Bitil, and Tongkaling , the loose political system which was centered on the local rule of the datu slowly gave way to a new centralized macrostructure whose head was a strangely remote authority known as the provincial governor or the municipal mayor. Other factors such a demography and economic changes combined to force the Bagobos towards the inevitability of social and cultural transformations.

Up to 1919 the poblacion or center of Sta. Cruz was still a Bagobo community, the sprinkling of Visayas, Chinese, Japanese and American residents constituting a minority. The landscape was dominated by the familiar Talisay and Acacia trees and the municipal hall standing by the side of the old Catholic church as these building did some twenty years before in the Spanish colonial decades. Such colonial idyll however. could not long survive the implacable demands of modernization and change of the next period of occupation.

Under the Americans, more Christian settlements and centers where native goods could be traded were established. Two such trade centers were established in Sta. Cruz and Sibula. By 1907, Japanese homesteaders and abaca planters began coming to Bagobo lands. Japanese farmholdings burgeoned all over Bagobo settlements facilitated either through marriage with Bagobo women or the contravention of laws restricting the ownerships of the Philippines lands.

To counteract the growing strength of foreign immigration into Davao, the Commonwealth Government passed the Colonization Act of 1935 that encouraged Filipino in migration into virgin lands in Cotabato, Lanao, and Davao. In the 1930’s, Sta. Cruz was mostly populated by migrant workers employed in the Japanese and American plantations. Some 132 hectares of the poblacion area were owned by American veterans of the Philippines-American War of 1898. Sta. Cruz under the American grew to an extensive municipality composed of the present towns of Digos, Bansalan, Hagonoy, Padada, and all the known Bagobo settlement in the modern province of Davao del Sur. In the poblacion itself, the average landholding amounted to about five or six hectares, but in Digos and Padada, American landholding covered hundreds of hectares.Few Bagobos, however, worked in the foreign-owned abaca plantation. At about this time, they slowly started to disappear from their residences in the lowland poblacion. Cases of land disputes involving native Bagobos and Visayas multiplied. The most common of such conflicts were the adaption of coercive means to make the Bagobos clear forest lands for the new settlers and the migrate encroachments on lands already cleared by the Bagobos.

When the war broke out in 1942, the migrant temporarily fled Sta. Cruz to other coastal areas farther south while the Bagobos sought the refuge of the nearby mountains. When the whole country surrendered to the Japanese in May of the same year, most of the Visayans returned to their homes in Sta. Cruz especially when it was learned that the Japanese military would not occupy it. The Bagobos of Melilla, Binaton and other upland areas were made to organize the local KALIBAPI under a native District President. No effective guerrilla unit could be organized in the area mainly because many Japanese civilians had intermarried with Bagobos. After Liberation in 1945, most of the plantation owned by the American were sold to local Filipinos in Sta. Cruz. Among them were the Almendras and Bendigo families, formerly of Danao, Cebu City who have since then become the political leaders of the town. American anthropologist, Fay Cooper Cole and Laura Watson Benedict who had been observing the displacement of the Bagobos since 1916 noted that the ineluctable transformation of the Bagobos could not be held off for long. Some of the Bagobo experience during the last fifty years are best told by themselves.

Life Histories

Cesar Manapol

I was born in Binaton, formerly a part of Sta. Cruz this municipality, on November 20,1916. My father , Jose was a native of Tanjay, Negros Oriental who came to Davao in 1914 as a school teacher. He was a missionary trained in Siliman University and was a council and refuge of the Bagobos here in our area. My mother was a full-blooded Bagoba, whom my father met while he was school teacher in Melilla. I also met my wife in Malilla.

The word Lobu is pronounced Lab-o and means a water source. When I was a little boy, we often came down to Lobu from our home in Binaton. All the mountains have names i.e., Karatongan , karamagan, Boribid. I did not experience the tribal wars among the natives of Davao. I only know about them from what my elder used to tell us youngsters.According to my uncle, it was the Bilaan who the Tagabawas (Bagobos) usually fought. These “wars” were really stealthy raids in the dead of the night rather than face-to-face combats. I also remember the trade which native conducted with one another. Bagobos of Binaton usually traded with the “Kaolos” (Tagacaolos) and the kalangans. When I was a little boy, we used to come down from Binaton bringing camotes and other farm produce to be traded or bartered with the other tribes. The accustomed trading place in our area was Tuban. A trade day was agreed upon by interest parties by making arrangements with local datus. Once a date has been agreed upon, we tied a knot on apiece of string counted the days by such knot until the appointed time. Everyone is careful not too forget this date. whatever we brought back from the trade in Tuban was shared with our relatives who usually came around when they know you have just returned from the trade trip. This was the custom. Even datus have to share with other who been able to trade.

During the war, I was a soldier and therefore did not like the Japanese. Before the war it was alright. Some Bagobos were hired to work in the Japanese plantation Sibulan, Toril, Calinan, and Binaton all had Japanese haciendas. The workers were paid in cash as well as in kind. Some were permanently employed in Japanese families and were paid about ₱15 monthly, Two of my Aunts, both Bagobos, Sabina and Itik, married Japanese. Many more Bagobos who were married to Japanese during the war were “big shots” in Sta. Cruz. They occupied together with their families the biggest houses here during the war. After the war they had to leave Sta. Cruz, but their Japanese husband provided well for for them. Some have been taken to Japan.

Among the Bagobos, there were few rich people except those married to the Chinese. It is not true that a non-Bagobos can acquire or own Bagobos land through marriage with Bagobos women. A Bagobo women is allowed to inherit property, and in marriage it is the husband who administer their property. However, the wife continues to own the property Among Bagobos,inheritance is transferred from parents to children, but not from wife to husband. A son-in-law would be ashamed to claim land that belong to his wife.

During the later part of 1944 we returned to Melilla. I became a sergeant in the police force under the Philippines Civil Affairs Units (PCAU). After the war, there were many loose firearms. Consequently,there were many incidents of armed robbery . Even Bagobos also had loose firearms, although they used them for hunting game. In Sta. Cruz. I don’t remember any outstanding criminal cases after the war . Running amok Bagobos was common during this time . There was one case I remember–this was Buan whose wife ran away with another man. He killed two people before he was himself killed by the relatives who came to succor his victims. Before the war was certainly the better times.

Tawiling Bigkas

I was born on January 5,1931 in Baracatan, Davao der Sur. My parents were both Bagobos, but I am married to a Visayan, when I was a little girl,this place (Sibula) was still a forest. Most of the houses were styled according to “Bagobos” fashion. The first in our family to live here was my great-grandfather. During my father’s time the family occupation was farming. My mother, like the rest of our womenfolk, occupied herself with housework and weaving. I don’t remember having been scolded by my parents. I like to play a lot.

I experience working for the Japanese. The work was mostly clearing field. We were paid daily in kind: three salted fish, three leaves of tobacco, and one chupa of salt. we were seldom paid in cash. During the war we went back to our field and started all over again . I think the period before the war was a better time.For one thing our roads here in Sibulan were much better because the Japanese maintained them well through hard labor among us natives. There were few criminals incident. Today the Bagobos have” awakened”, and now we want our children to go school, know may things, be independent and work our own farms.

Datu Salumay

What I remember from the past are datus here in Salumay (Calinan, Davao City).Spanish soldiers something came to talk to our datus about game and other source of food. I think their purpose for being was the same as any other people-to look for one’s livelihood. We Bagobos are not too interested in other people or in what other people do. IN general we mind our own business and care only our own affairs.

Our place Salumay, is surrounded by mountains and forest. The names of our mountains are Mando and Malambo. We earn our living by farming and hunting. During this time there were only a few Cebuanos in our place. I don’t remember Americans living with us in this place. During the American period, our Datu was Dumokan. At this time Bagobos in our place began to sell their lands. We were living them in Simod by the side of the Bankerohan river.

When war broke out, I moved my family back to Salumay. Some “Filipino” also moved with us to this place from fear of the Japanese who have already occupied the city. During this time our Datu Sumba, The Japanese did not come to Salumay. We did not experience liberation in Salumay, but some American reached our place. They distributed clothes and food among us.

Some Preliminary Observations of Contemporary Bagobo Culture

During the 1975 census the Bagobos population numbered a total of 29,363, the concentrations of which are found in Davao City which claims 53% of the total population, Sta. Cruz with 26%, and the remaining 21% are found in three other municipalities of Davao del Sur. Sta. Cruz and Sibulan are political subdivisions of this province, Sibulan being a barangay of Sta. Cruz. Most, if not all, of the 15 barangays comprising Sta. Cruz today were known Bagobo settlements in the 19th century. Except for the poblacion or center , most of the barangays are in the highlands adjacent to the coast since the topography of Sta. Cruz is generally rolling and mountainous. It has a total land area of 27,960 hectares which is 6.71% of the total land area of the province.

The population of Sta. Cruz in the 1980 census is 48,272 with a density of 176 person per square kilometer. The population is characteristically young with the ages of 44 years and below comprising 47.3% of the age structure. Consequently, the municipality has a high dependency ratio of 96.60. Moreover , 74% of children between the ages of 0-6 months were found to be suffering from various levels of malnutrition . The major occupations are employment for the poblacion and farming for the majority of the barangays including the barangay of Sibulan. The prinipal crops grown are coconut and corn. None of the barangays has irrigation facilities.

Sibulan is 21 kilometer distant from the poblacion and has a population of 2,518 most of whom are engaged in upland farming . It is accessible by jeepney from the district of Toril in Davao City for the first nine or ten kilometers. The remaining three or four kilometers must be negotiated on foot along a sloping and increasingly rugged terrain. Along this road the traveller to Sibulan must negotiate three precipitous descents. The third traverses the Baracatan river which is actually no more than a mountain stream. On rainy days,this tiny stream can become a roaring gorge after an hour of heavy rain, impeding passage to Sibulan. Following the steep ascent from this river, one comes to Sibulan proper nestling high up in the Davao mountain range.

One’s first eyeful of Sibulan reveals the Barangay Hall built close at the edge of a precipice, a basketball court, and a cluster of empty huts surrounding an open cockpit On Saturday, the market day of Sibulan, these empty huts come to life and are suddenly filled with people. one arrive on horseback apparently from higher and more distant grounds. Except for some recent structures the landscape of the mountain walls and rising peaks surround the newcomer with ambiance of the tradition. The panorama of native flora: the smell of bamboo, the sight of the tall and stately durian trees, and the verdant turf everywhere , all seem to defy the passing of time.

Yet, there are no more trees houses in Sibulan, Today’s Bagobos houses are built on the ground , but foisted on piles instead of posts. The interior is usually divided into three or more section: a receiving area with one or two wooden benches for visitors, a kitchen, and an elevated and walled-off area for sleeping quarters. Today’s dwellings are also provided with windows. The house of the barangay captain is of the bungalow type. While the architectural types have given way to modern ones, the materials used are those that are derived from traditional sources. For roofing and walling , the old buho, a specie of bamboo which are plaited together for use as thatching material, it still very much in evidence. The Bagobos of Sibulan maintain that the buho is impervious to rain as well as sun.

One the other hand, settlement habits of old appear to have persisted. Houses are set far apart from one another. The clustering of two or more houses that are within calling distant of each other is of occasional incidence. When a group of houses are built close together this is usually because the owners are close relatives . An obvious reason for the dispersed pattern of residence it that each house is usually constructed in the midst of or adjacent to a garden of about 1000 to 2000 square meters planted to either rice or corn, some fruit trees, coconuts, bananas, and some vegetable. Such a pattern is strongly reminiscent of the rancherias of old which were built close to one’s rice fields and in which one’s immediate neighbors are family members.

Sibulan farmers are dry cultivators. Since there is no irrigation system for the entire municipality of Sta. Cruz, firing was and still is the only known means of soil cultivation. Necessarily, this has resulted in the cumulative degradation of the soil. Most of the old Sibulan folk whom I interviewed told us that the soil is not now as rich as before, and this is the reason why Sibulan folk seek a much higher ground on which to plant their rice. The affluent ones own bigger ricelands in Tabog, an almost vertical wall of green fields that rises high above Sibulan.

There are a number of small sari-sari stores selling soft drinks, beer, cigarettes,and other non-essential items. These stores are not selling basic goods since from observation each family is more or less self-sufficient in basic food such a rice and other staples. At harvest time, crops are stored in family granaries or sold at the market places in Davao City or Toril.

Today’s Bagobo’s are predominantly Christian. Many possess Christian names which is usually a token received baptism either from Catholic or Protestant rites. The practice of adapting the name of adapting the name of one’s father as a surname has gained currency,i.e.,Pedro Tongkaling is the son of someone whose only name is Tongkaling. A possible exception are the names of second or third ascending generation members who are still known by only one name. A Caholic priest comes to say mass on Sundays, while the Protestant chapel is served by a resident Pastor. The present generation of Bagobos hardly hardly react to the name of Mandarangan, unlike the older generations whose eyes would suddenly light up with an old intensity at the mention of the deity. Many Bagobos prefer to dismiss the subject by associating the old worship with works of the devil.

However, old habits die hard, and old practices become ritualized instead of merely ceasing to be . IN 1913 when the American anthropologist, Laura W. Benedict attended a Gin-Em, the longest and most elaborate of Bagobo festivals which culminate in human sacrifice, she noticed that the Bagobos who shot a chicken as offering said a prayer in apology for not being able to offer a human victims, a tradition which had already been proscribed by the American authorities.

Presently, a more powerful factor that could possibly bring about drastic changes among the Bagobos would be the political situation and the increasing social as well as economic pressures that it has brought to bear upon them, The activities of both the New People Army (NPA) and the military have greatly destabilized the area, the natural consequences of armed encounters between these two groups being the dislocation of noncombatants.

According to military documents, the first group of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) was organized in Mindanao in June 1971. The group’s activities were intensified in Tagum, Davao del Norte and Digos, Davao del Sur. The following year the Mindanao Regional Party Committee (MRPC) organized, and by the end of 1982, the CPP had already established seven fronts in region XI. An ambush in Sulop, Davao del Sur on November 3,1982resulted in the death of Mayor Mondejar and several PC/INC personnel. The event also signaled the start of armed hostilities in the region.

The CCP/NPA operational viability relies much on the support of the people Reports of a systems of “progressive taxation” in which each family is asked to contribute ₱1.50 plus a chupa of rice depending on the economic conditions of the locality, have circulated freely since 1976. When moving about across territories in which insurgent influence has been fairly established, ranking party members pass the night in the houses of sympathizers. Upon the approach of intruders or any other stranger, an alarm is made in various ways such as dropping heavy objects on the floor, ringing of bells or agongs, disturbing chickens and other animals.

The other disruptive element is the military itself. To contain and neutralized the insurgent threats, the Regional Unified Command for Region XI (RUC) was organized on April 18,1983. The establishment of the RUC was a move to enhance the operational effectiveness of the military by coordinating and integrating all the Armed Forces in the Region. The first important operation was named katatagan which consists in a three pronged program.

a. Phase 1- Intensification of civil-military operation in unaffected areas to win the people to the side of the government while at the same time strengthening para-military forces and self-defense capabilities;

b. Phase 2-Intensification of civil-military operation in cleared areas previously influenced by the insurgents and the establishment of a civil defense force; and

c. Phase 3-Reconciliation. During

the third phase the military will rehabilitate previously affected areas with the help of other government agencies to ensure the acceleration of socio-economic growth in the region.

Today, the presence of these competing forces strains the peace and tranquility of the Bagobos who are only now being made aware the larger political realities around them.The advent of centralized rule has not really made itself felt among the cultural minorities until recently. The institution of the datu system as known to the Bagobos appeared to have been restricted to mediation and arbitration rather than outright rule. Up until modern times, the only familiarity that Bagobos have with political authority is that of the datu, a local functionary whose authority did not normally exceed the number of his followers. In the past, an offending Bagobo could lose his life to the datu’s maganis under terms that had been specified to him by custom and tradition. The risk of losing his life to this personal enemies was probably greater than the former possibility.

Today’s festering political conditions have made the Bagobos more vulnerable in his struggle for survival. They have magnified life’s uncertainties by exposing him to forces over which he has neither choice nor control. In a bid to draw the Bagobo to the larger mainstream of the national and society, the system is unwittingly making use of methods that would destroy the very milieu that nurtures hi. The system claims justification through a known principle of social theory, that of the mutuality between individual and society.

On the other hand, the unwholesome atmosphere is driving many Bagobos to lowland barangays where they are drastically and inexorably torn from their traditional lifestyles. Thus,the present disorders many yet prove to be the propelling force that could bring the Bagobos to integration or assimilation into the larger Filipino society. When that happens, it would appear that their integration has been achieved at the cost of their genuinely Filipino tradition and culture.

A Phenomenological Reflection on Social Reality and Change

The mission statement of the Ateneo de Davao University states that “it preserves, cherishes, and develops the values and convictions of the Filipino culture in an involvement with the local community, and in a commitment to the challenges of nation building.” In response to this an increasing number of students of the different curricular and extra-curricular clubs and organizations are now actively becoming involved with poor communities in Davao City. The Social Involvement and Coordination Office (SICO) is one of the important agencies of the university that facilities the students’ involvement. It helps the university make its social involvement programs successful.

Philosophy shows that the process of organizing and transforming society must consider the role of human subjectivity. People should be involved in decision-making about their own lives. In the final analysis, social transformation can be truly authentic if the social members themselves determine their destiny.

It is hopes that the present essay will be a fruitful contribution to the many sets of materials and documents already being read and studied by students. Likewise, this essay can help towards adding material to groups and organizations even outside the University.

Man Reduced to a Thing

The students are aware that a very huge percentage of Philippine capital and resources are not in the hands of the majority of Filipinos. The political laws have not been supportive of the needs of many. Education, to name a cultural dimension, is not really “educating” everyone. The students after their structural analysis mention that Philippine economics, politics, and culture are not supportive of the great majority, especially the poor. People. especially the poor, are not given the opportunity to define how they are to live in a more humane way. What has been happening is that experts design theories and policies for social restructuring without prior consultation with the people concerned.

The experts make the theories, policy-makers actualize them. The presupposition is that the lives and ways of people cannot be the basis for the theoretical constructs for change and development. It is believed that the criteria of the experts are more reliable in determining how people should live. Social change is implemented without considering what the people themselves have to say. There are two terms that can be helpful in the philosophic analysis. The first is the word “subjective”. This has often been understood as that which refers to the personal, the idiosyncratic, and the vague. The other word is “objective” , which often has been understood as that which is faithful to the “facts-in-themselves”. The objective is what is enduring, such as the facts that are open to rigorous and systematic inquiry. To be subjective in one’s interpretations is to be unsure and imprecise. To be objective is to be correct and precise. Hence, the subjective, employing its realm of values and meanings, is said to belong to people’s interpretations of their situations, while the objective is the way of the scientific experts.

the experts’ scientific interpretations are believed to be much more valid than peoples’ interpretations. Hence, the criteria for social change and development are in the hands of the scientific experts, since they are objective in their formulations. The subjectives lives of social members, to be properly organized, must be subservient to the valid and reliable designs of the experts. It does appear therefore, that the peoples’ right to define their social lives can be denied in the name of scientific objectivity. Thus people have been reduced to objects. This is what is taking place in many programs for development, e.g., housing, industrialization, and infrastructure.

It is incorrect to assume that people can go on with their daily lives relying on the experts to do the thinking and deciding for them. It is also incorrect to think that only the experts know, while everyone else does not. People will have to decide with what to do with their lives. They should be involved in designing what for them is the viable way of living. It is imperative to criticize the assumption that the subjective ways of the people are not at part with the objective constructs of the experts, especially the foreign experts. Two points can show why.

First, it is questionable if the set of criteria are really as objective as defined. It is believed that for experts to be objective they must be without values and meanings that color their interpretations. An entirely value-free science is today in dispute, and it is doubtful if experts can really cease from holding on to any value at all. One moralist looking into the relations between economics and ethics pointed out that the criteria purported to be without value coloring are really normative concepts and beliefs prescribing how people must live economic lives. The economics are not entirely scientific since they show that they are also ideological. Another observer noted that for a very long time many experts could not agree on the most objective criteria for correct social living. Hence, there grew to be as many criteria as there were scholars and thinkers. That is why it has become questionable if the constructed criteria are really faithful to the “facts-in-themselves.” It can be asked if it is true that the proper way to live and get organized is discoverable in the experts’ design whether the people agree with them or not.

No two people are exactly the same. The social inquirer is not exempted from this Social members have their own experiences and their own values. The inquirer too has his own. In trying to analyse society the expert inquirer makes his approach genuine, that is, be as accurate as possible with the social facts. People give meaning and interpret their situations. the inquirer who fails to see this has mistaken the treatment of people for the treatment of things. The systematic and rigorous thinking in any genuine study of society must be cognizant of what is really in the social world. An inquirer’s analysis must be consistently based on his subject matter. Disregard for such a basic verity is seen in the expert’s attitude that deny people their chance to define and interpret their social lives. Social understanding and policy must be discoursed on the very meanings that people give to their situations.

The social philosopher, Alfred Schutz, in formulating his insights on social analysis, presented what he called “constructs of the second degree.” In inquiring into the social world the expert inquirer must never hold his interpretations against the interpretations of the social members. Imposing insights must be avoided. Experts, planners, and policy makers must be aware of the biases they have in looking at society. That is why understanding society is to see the very meanings inherent in peoples’ actions. Understanding society must consider what social members themselves have to say about their situation. Everything else belonging to the experts must be “second degree” founded on the “first degree” interpretations of the people themselves.

Second, and in a more practical sense, it is unreasonable to impose criteria on people especially when human suffering and death will be the consequences. Experts’ designs can be harmless if they only remain in theory,but the repercussions on peoples’ lives must be considered with utmost attention. Particular attention should be given to the interconnections between theory, policy, and human pain. What is intolerable is to allow the criteria to be imposed without peoples’ participation and acceptance.

The Paradigm: Social Phenomenology

If people, especially the poor, in the Philippines today are reduced to the level of objects in the planning and implementation of development projects, then, there is a need for a philosophic critique if this situation. The subjective must surface. The paradigm on which the philosophic analysis here stands is the phenomenological perspective, especially social phenomenology. A brief consideration of the history of Western philosophy may be helpful in seeing what phenomenology is.

During the Ancient- Medieval period, philosophers believed that they could grasp the very essence of things. With the advent of the natural sciences the notion that the universe is basically mathematical and mechanical was introduced. The task of science was to gain insight into the mathematical and mechanical world-in-itself. The science of man consequently became a way of trying to determine how to quantify man and fit him into the mathematical-mechanical models. Then, the problem emerged as to how to grasp the “fact-in-themselves.” For example, many asked if the physicist could really know the exact nature of matter. Furthermore, it was a problem in the human sciences to determine the precise models for human analysis.

There were, on the other hand, philosophers who pointed out that before studying things, the study of the mind must first precede. If, as the philosophers said, the world “in-itself” is not yet clear, maybe it is because the nature of the mind is not yet clear. Unfortunately, the mind was over-emphasized and everything became idealistic and even spiritualistic. Even the understanding of man became a way of trying to look for the structures of the mind independent of the structures of the world.

Phenomenology is a study of what comes in between the world and the mind. It does not see the separation of the two for it believes that the world is a world for the mind and the mind is directed to the world. There is no world without mind and mind without world. In the same way, man is interpreted to be not just a part of the world nor simply part of pure mind. For the philosophers of recent phenomenology, man’s presence in the world is the emergence of meaning. The world makes sense because man is present to give meaning to it, and man fulfills his capacities of reason and understanding because of his being in the world.

Man has a special relation to the world and that is why we find many worlds, e.g., the world of art, the world of science, the world of the Chinese, the world of poverty, and so on. When the phenomenologist studies society, he talks of the world of everyday life wherein people routinely interact and organize themselves as a society. In fact, the phenomenologist would see the other world. In phenomenology the option of making the subjective surface means disclosing the everyday world of people and how people define themselves in that world.

Social Dimensions

The phenomenologist tries to recapture the richness of social experience by disclosing the varied ways through which society appears to the eyes of the ordinary man. To begin with, the social world is experienced as a human world. The experts’ reifications are abstractions and devitalizations of the human element in the experience. The social world contains the relation between and among people, a relation which can never be found with things. For example, picture someone rushing for work. As he elbows his way through people to get a ride, he may say, “I am sorry”. The experience of bumping against people is really different from the experience of bumping against a lamp post. No one will be sorry or repugnant towards a street lamp post, nor will the post demand respect and apologies from the one who accidentally bumps it. Nothing happens between the post and people. The social world is what happens between persons.

There are many profiles in the way people experience one another. Some people are known to us in intimate ways. They may be people in our family, people we live with, or people we work with. We know them through their characters or personalities. However, there are those people we do not know too well in terms of their personalities. In fact, we know them simply as people performing certain functions. We do not know if they are well-manned or ill-tempered; we do not know their private likes, dislikes, or preferences for this or that. As far as we are concerned, we simply know that they have particular things to do. These people are the policemen who handle peace and order, the mailmen who deliver the mail, the technocrats handling financial matters, and so on. Notice that we are not very intimate with them since we simply apprehend them in their functions. Unlike people we personally know, those we see only in terms of functions are anonymous.

Finally, we can even talk about groups or collectivities. A collectivity is composed of many individuals, many functions, even smaller groups. All are encapsuled in unity by virtue of being grouped. Now we really find here a high degree of anonymity. Consider, for example, what we mean when we say “the people of Western Mindanao”. What we have in mind is really a whole domain of individuals with different personalities, so many people of different works, so many ethnic religious groups, all lumped together. Obviously, we are not apprehending a unique, intimate person. When we apprehend a collectivity, we are not exactly referring to anyone in particular.

We can determine how people are intimate or anonymous to us in one or two ways. One way is through the generality by which we apprehend them. Knowledge of a friend cannot be so generalized. Our knowledge of a friend is rich in content because we get out information, so to speak, from his very concrete manifestations. We have seen the personality of our friend. The less close we are to people the more general we apprehend then. Often we get information of them from stories. Maybe someone told us about them, or we have read about them in the papers or books. At any rate, no matter what knowledge we get about them, we know them not as well as we would know a friend. Knowledge of them becomes general.

The type “mailman” for instance already covers many individuals who we do not necessarily know. All those individuals are generally known as people who handle the mail. Anonymity is most experienced in collectivity where speaking of people becomes really general. We do not apprehend each and every individual, nor the work he does. Rather, we see a group at large. Our everyday speech indicates how general we can get in apprehending a collectivity: “The Ilocano people are thrifty”, or “How can people become so unkind.” The “Ilocano” or “people” are really general terms.

The other way by which intimacy and anonymity are gauged comes in terms of the ease with which we relate with people personally. For example, we know how at ease we can become in facing our friends. We can easily approach them. The ease become less when it comes, for example to relating with the mailman. When we receive our mail, we know that it is not easy to pour out out joys or troubles to the mailman. Perhaps, we might even feel it wiser to simply get the mail, turn around and pour out a friend while letting the mailman just move on. Finally, imagine how impossible it is to face directly “the people of Western Mindanao”. Apparently, here we are really aware of something very anonymous which, in sheer massivity, cannot even be addressed as a face-to-face partner. In our concrete day-to-day living, we can be amazed at how varied people are. People can be close or distant, intimate or anonymous. This is what profile means. We apprehend people in varying profiles.

So far we have looked into the experiences we have of people living today. This, obviously, is not the whole picture. There are also those people who lived in the past, and those who will come in the future. Some of those who lived in the past may have been personally close to us, e.g., our grandparents. They comprise a small circle of our predecessors. The past is also composed of those people who are historically distant. Some of them may have made it to the history books. We may be celebrating their death anniversaries. However, the great number of the unique, rich, and concrete lives are not reconstructed and may never be reconstructed. These concrete personal lives are apprehended in general terms. For example, the Katipuneros under Andres Bonifacio may be interpreted as valiant, brave, zealous , and willing to die for the motherland. We do not know, however, the unique and concrete situations, feelings, and private goals of each and every soldier. Most people from the past are no longer apprehended in their uniqueness. The thousands of individual lives cannot be recalled except through generalities, e.g. the general trait of the soldiers, the ordinary life of the pre-Hispanic islanders, or the typical life of the Filipino during the revolution.

The generality by which we see the past influences the way we see the present. We may have a general idea that much of the Philippine economy today is foreign-controlled. This is because we have only a general understanding of the history behind this. A more in-depth study of the treaties, trade acts, and other agreements between the Philippine and United States governments will deepen our knowledge of foreign entrenchment in our soil. The less general our knowledge of the past becomes, the more in-depth our knowledge of the present situation is.

There are also those who will come in the future. Some of our successors may be personally close to us, such our children, our grandchildren, nephews, nieces. Nonetheless most people in the future will never be known to us personally.

We may have our commitments for the future, either personal or historical. Our goals and projects, no matter how near or far, have a way of telling us how we are to conduct our current lives. Envisioning a future state-of-affairs, we discover many of the reasons behind our actions today. If looking at the past may help us clarify the present, the way we perceive the future also helps clarify the present. Take for instance the struggles of the poor today, made symbolic through their protests, strikes and rallies. If we want to understand why they do these actions, we will also have to see how their hopes influence them today. They are hoping for a future of justice for their children and grandchildren.

The world of the future will always be open. Our actions today may influence the future. However, our successors may alter what we hope for because they might create a world which does not necessarily comply with the expectations of our dreams and hopes.

What transpires between persons in the social world can be very intricate. The complexity is largely determined by the fact that people experience each other in profiles of the near and the remote, the past and the future and the intimate and the anonymous. In fact, it is not enough to say that we experience people in varied ways. We are also apprehended, in turn, by others in varied ways. We also appear to them in profiles. With our friends, we experience ourselves being treated in an intimate way. We are anonymous to the mailman, for he does not know our personalities. We are but a statistical figure to the economist studying the income distribution of Region XI. We are the anonymous successors of our predecessors who worked for a world they expected we would support. Perhaps, we have changed their dreams. We will be one day left hidden in anonymity waiting to be unearthed by tomorrow’s historians.

We are never exempted from the profiles by which others see us. As we apprehend and interpret people, in whatever sector of the world and time they may be, we too are apprehended by them.

Interaction

Let us now investigate what happens between persons in the social scene. First of all, in everyday experience, we see that people’s actions make sense not just for us but also for those acting. The man knocking at the door carrying a neat bundle of pink sheets must be someone who intends to get our payments. We cannot accept the presupposition that he really has no business knocking at the door. Somehow, we ascribe sense to action, a sense which we think must belong to the person acting. That is why, if we cannot know about a person’s action we try to find out from him. Of course, we do make mistakes in interpreting people’s actions. The man knocking at the door may not be asking for bill payments but may instead be introducing his Mormon faith by giving out leaflets. That action of knocking at the door is, after all, infused with a sense of mission and not, as mistaken, an action of getting bill payments. Still, we see that the person’s actions had some purpose.

If experience tells us that people give sense to their actions, then we must know what action is. Before we proceed, however, we must be precise with our meanings of the word action. At times, it is understood to be something very significant, and could be associated with political or even revolutionary conduct. Although action may be overt, not all action need necessarily be so. Waiting for prices to increase before selling, postponing dialogue with management, deciding not to vie for a post in the club, these too are actions. There can be indecisions, passivity, even silence, in action. The teacher thinking about his lesson plan or the scientist working out in his head a formula, are also actions. Thus actions can be covert too.

Action always implies a “project”. We make some anticipations of what we may expect to fulfill. The project is none other than a state-of-affairs pictured as accomplished and completed, but the actual completion lies in the future. Thus, the different steps in the action are made to fulfill the project of the action. If there is no project there will be only aimless steps. Instead of action we may have mere physiological reflexes such as the face blushing, the pupils narrowing, or a kind of mental blackout that happens when a heavy object hits the head. Action must have its project, and here we find “meaningful action.” The meaning of an action is in its project. If we want to know the sense of an action we have to look into what it is trying to accomplish. A man turning the door-knob may have in mind getting into the room. The movements of the action, such as grasping the knob, turning it, and eventually pushing the door open, are all geared towards fulfilling the plan of being inside the room.

Action does not, however, arise from a vacuum. It is always situated. To act is to respond to the situation in which the person finds himself. That is why it can be said that an action’s project is demanded by the situation. While the project requires the steps necessary for its fulfillment, the situation in turn requires the establishment of the project itself. The man turning the knob wants to get in the room. Why? Perhaps, he is being chased by a huge dog. The situation impelled his project of getting into the room.

A main element in acting in daily life is that we believe in what we do. If fact, an effort is made to suspend doubts and questions that may run counter to the validity of our actions. The man kissing his newly wedded wife by the altar does not stop to ask if the married life is really his vocation. The laborer with eight children believes that his work must really be supportive of the family, There is found, in daily life, the attitude of taking things for granted. This carries the belied that we do not need to inquire so much into our daily actions. The taken-for-granted is that level of experience presenting itself as not in need of further analysis.

What sustains this attitude is the assumption that our actions have their consistency. On one hand, there is the belief that what were formerly successful will continue to be so now. The action has proven itself before, and hence, one takes it for granted that it will prove itself now. On the other hand, there is the belief that in as much as it has proven its success before, it can prove itself now. Thus there is no reason why it should not again prove itself in the future. Hence, what we usually do in the daily life attains a character of being typical. The action yesterday, now, and as expected, is typically the same action. Of course, there may be some differences in each occasion, but those elements that make the actions so unique and irretrievable from each other set aside as irrelevant. Those elements are largely taken for granted. That is why we are not very inquisitive about what we typically do. We have done actions before; we keep on doing them routinely, and we have always been met with sufficient success. So without much further ado, we expect that our next occasion to do such actions will show that the actions will work well. The actions are thus, again and again, typical.

When others come intimately into our lives it is difficult to typify them. This is because of the richness in which we experience them. Nonetheless, even intimate others can be typified. When mother is silent it typically means that she is angry over something. As we move out of intimacy, and enter into anonymity, we cannot rely so much on the concrete manifestations of peoples’ personalities. We rely more and more on general understanding about them. Thus, the more we typify them. For instance, the type ” mailman” means that there are people handling the mail. There may be different, unique individuals with their specific idiosyncrasies, but in daily life we take for granted their individualities and simple see the type. This goes for all our anonymous typifications. That is why, again, if we cannot comprehend someone’s action it is probably because we have not determined what type of thing he is doing. We fall short of trying to see the context of his action.

One important point is that the types that we have of people are not altogether arbitrarily made. When, we were born into the world we were told about how the world typically is. Already we find typical ways of calling things, e.g., dogs, cats, fish, trees, stones, and chairs. Included in the typifications we derive are those about other people. All these typifications are found in the milieu we are born into. Our parents, elders, teachers, and others have told us how to interpret and typify the world. When we were born into the society we were born into a shared world, evident in the typifications of the milieu. We become participants of the shared world.

A crucial aspect in being participants in the shared world is the way we got to learn to look at our own actions. Being born in the social milieu we realize what typical actions are “good” or “bad”. The experience of being in the church service finds the child’s inquisitive eyes looking out for interesting things. The child feels his way around, taking a step here, a step there. Soon he boldly runs about, touching objects on the floor, investigating people’s faces. and maybe even inviting other children to his noisy adventures. Then the long arms of the father and the wide embrace of the mother put the child in his place. The learning process goes on, and the lesson for the day is: noisemaking in the church is “wrong”.

In the social world we learn actions that are typical, and that is why our actions are not altogether private. Somehow, our actions are adjusted to the approvals in the milieu. We find that our actions become appropriate as they become defined as part of the typically accepted ways of acting. Yet, a great deal of the acceptance have their historical aspects. In other words, many of the typical actions have been historically established some time ago. Other people in the past have responded to certain situations with their particular actions. They found their actions to have worked successfully the actions have proven their worth. Such actions became the typical ways of responding to the situations from which they originated. These are then the typical actions vis-a-vis the corresponding typical situations.

Anyone engaged with the typical situations can simply respond with the typical action. At the start, the trials and errors have determined the most appropriate actions. These actions are then handed down, as tradition. Others who come later are saved the steps of having to find out and experiment on their own. They are simply told what the most appropriate actions are. The typical actions become part of the taken-for-granted ways of doing things. Sometimes, we realize that we do not know the history behind what we daily do. The origins of the actions may have been lost from the memory of everyone, including elders. Inasmuch as the actions continue proving themselves, it may not occur to us to suspect their origins. Examples are numerous: ways of right speech, ways of wearing clothes, search for success, ways of work, and so on. Today, we find thousands of young people trying to get the most wanted college diploma which will, supposedly, be their passport to success.

In the course of interactions with people, we orient ourselves towards others with the expectation of how they will be oriented toward us. The mutuality of actions are largely typical. Since we interpret others’ actions as typical it is also expected that others interpret out actions as typical. The types that we see of each other are mutually oriented. Take for example, riding a public vehicle. The type “driver” implies that the one behind the wheel brings people of the type “passengers” to their designated places. When on a vehicle we orient our actions according to the type expected of us, “passengers”, while the one driving orients his actions as expected of the type “driver”. We take for granted we are following the typifications expected of us.

Social members act towards one another according to how they typically see each other. Hence, social interactions occur by types, e.g., driver-passengers, consumer-manufacturer, labor-management, and land-lord-tenant, even laborer-to-laborer businessman-to-businessman. In the social world we find that we really take on many typical roles. Getting into a public vehicle we become “passengers”; arriving at work, we are “laborers”; receiving salary, we become the potential “consumers”; arriving home, we are the “neighbors”. Social living is a matter of taking roles typical in different sectors of time and place.

A few points can be mentioned in reaction to this. First, there is the realization that social members have ways of looking at each other. Here we find the notion that social members define and interpret their world. An expert inquirer will have t realize that the social milieu is rich with typifications and people follow generally the typical ways expected of them. To impose one’s own constructs is really to deny from the study the whole range of people’s interpretations. To understand people is to see their complex typifications, how they look at the world and themselves.

Secondly, society can have its sense of being a “home”. The social members are not just related with one another, they are participants in a shared world with accepted ways of doing things. To be part of the milieu is to be guaranteed that our actions have their rightful places. The conforming to and being adjusted to the given typifications of the milieu amount to having some kind of an order. Familiarity with things and actions is bred into us because our ways take part in the accepted ways. By following the contours of the typifications, especially the expected typical ways of acting, we social members are guaranteed the “rightness” or “wrongness” in what we do. The first personal pronoun “We” indicate what this means. The use of the pronoun seems to presuppose that everyone is part of the common, shared ways of doing things: “We members of the association”, “We members of the barangay, “We citizens”. Mutuality is a taken-for-granted reality and everyone is identified in it. So a fundamental experience of social living is within and being a part of the whole.

Finally, anonymity is part of social existence. Anonymity is characterized by rigid orders established through long historical processes. A great part of social relations are conducted along the ways of the established orders and therefore need not always account for individual preferences and feelings. Social relations, we must remember, move in more than just intimate relations. For life in society to be humanly possible is for that life to be also engaged in the public world. Without managing a common world of typical ways of defining things, we find a very fragmented social world. Without anything publicly attainable, we find an absence of an important condition for human authenticity.

Concluding Remarks: On the Importance of Reflection
This essay has pointed out that social members do establish and maintain their own social reality. First, it shows that people experience one another in varied ways depending on the proximity and distance they have towards one another. Hence, the interpretations they make about each other are really situated within the stratifications. We can see why people can be intimate or anonymous towards one another. Secondly, the essay has shown that typifications are crucial in the mutuality between and among social members. The typifications, especially of actions, determine how social members are to act towards one another. Secondly, the essay has shown that typifications are crucial in the mutuality between and among social members. The typifications, especially of actions, determine how social members are to act towards one another. A great deal of social relations are really colored by the mutuality of types.

Let it be stressed that all typical interpretations and the consequent interactions are to be found within the confines of society itself. Hence, instead of searching for the sense of social behavior outside society, we must engage in understanding society by keeping in constant touch with the typifications inherent within the society. Failure to realize this can lead to imposition.

Experts have their own ideas as to what they believe to be the outcome expected of any social action. They assume that social behavior functions according to certain typical expectations outside of and regardless of the peoples’ ways. The experts interpret social living from their own typifications in the belief that their claims can be applied to the whole of society. Their understanding involves interpreting society with typifications that are not in conjunction with peoples’ interpretations. Perhaps, the experts really wish to serve the people in good faith, but in putting their ideas into effect, they run counter to the expectations and goals of people. Believing in the objectivity of their designs, the experts would rather listen only to themselves. Along the way impositions take place.

People too have an active role in such impositions. It was mentioned above that people, in their daily lives, tend to take a lot of things for granted. They are not always inquisitive about everything. When the experts present very inviting statements about development and progress, people might just take it for granted that what experts say are really promising. To take things for granted can be myopic. People may believe that their own goals and dreams can be better facilitated by the know-how of the experts. To couple peoples’ attitude of taking things for granted with the experts’ confidence in their own ideas contributes to our social ills. When experts present what they believe are the most appropriate ways to live, people take for granted that they are shown the best. Soon, people undergo a historical transformation largely dependent on what experts say. Then, people are led to situation they do not really intend, with their children and grandchildren trapped in the same unfortunate fate. At the same time the experts, perceiving the people’s disappointments, start blaming external economic or political forces, or worse, start accusing people of their failure to appreciate and cooperate with what are being done for them.

Let us make some final remarks regarding the state-of-affairs above. First, typifications are products of people; objective designs are products of experts. Social members and social experts are humans. They are not things. Things affect one another without having to define and interpret one another. The relations between things do not require their mutual approvals, disapprovals, conformity, or contrariety. When water boils it does not do so because it is complying with what heat expects. It does not decide on how to respond when fire is placed under it. Water does not know what it is doing, what it must to do, and what it must not do. When heated, it simply steams, a matter of cause and affect. What happens to a thing is an effect of external forces, what happens to society is born out of mutual interactions.

Social members tend to forget that they are the forces behind their own social orders and histories. They take the realities of their actions for granted. Their actions are attended to as if they are final, valid, and not in need of further questions. There seems to be nothing else wanting aside from what are typically done. Social members adapt to the course of the typical. So long as the typical actions are confirmed. social members find no need for further questions. The actions, having been successful, become the typical vital forces for the success of contemporary life. Having proven their success now, the actions are expected to be, again and again, successful in the future. Consequently, fitted into daily life is the forgetfulness of the human authorship underneath the typifications. The typical appears to be independent of and external to people as if the typical has always existed. Hence, anyone born into the milieu is told to internalize what he did not, in the first place, establish. He is molded into the contours of society’s typifications. The typical originally egressed from human authors, but in the long run, became authors of human lives. People sustain the typical by adjusting themselves to them. Their lives thus become products of the typical.

The experts, on the other hand, may think of leaving behind people’s typifications to enter into a more supposedly objective region. They study in famous universities and finish technical degree courses. They may even pursue and finish studies abroad or in the prestigious universities here. They are then equipped with a different set of typifications.

The structure of forgetfulness found within society is also found to be in the experts’ regions. Experts take for granted that their scientific theories and findings are so obviously valid there is no need to ask if these are also human interpretations of society. Of course, it is naive to say that their training is useless and arbitrary. The great insights of the scientists in the past are not to be undermined. The point made here, however, is the fact that everything said about society, no matter how complex and scientific, are nonetheless related to the scientists’ and experts’ way of looking, perceiving, and interpreting. To forget this is to be drawn into false reifications. The fact of imposing designs on people can also be attributed to this failure of experts to see that their statements and insights are related to their own subjectivity. They think that their designs are external to themselves and to social members such that everyone simply has to conform to the external validities.

The philosophic critique of this essay is now evident: there is the need to confront the tendency to forget and even deny the importance of the subjective in defining social reality. A final remark can be offered. We must consider the pragmatic import of our analysis.

One of the trends today towards social transformation in education is what is commonly called “conscientization”. Philosophy, although not appearing to be directly engaged with the praxis of change, is today aware of its aware of its form of reflection which can be helpful to social transformation. Phenomenological-philosophical reflection makes explicit the relations between human subjectivity and its meaningful reality. Reflection inquiries into the ways by which the human being gives meaning to his experiences. In a more technical language, reflection delineates the whole structure of consciousness and how consciousness establishes the significance of its experiences. With regard to our concern in this essay, philosophic reflection can be said to remind us that social members and even the experts are human beings intrinsically related to the realities that they define. Secondly, reflection can be a tool describing how precisely the relations proceed. This will definitely awaken people’s awareness to their own possibilities as authors of their own destiny. Instead of neglecting their humanity, people will be given the chance to rediscover their dignity as the essential component of their history. Finally, and in an existential sense, reflection can help people realize that whatever reality and history they establish, all these are nonetheless merely human products. This is not to degrade people. It is true that human finitude and human limitations can also be careful of its ambitions and dreams. The philosophic analysis must stress this because when philosophy declares the final frontiers of being human, it readily assents tot eh exigency of religious Hope.

Philosophic analysis in the seminars of the Ateneo de Davao University social involvement programs is usually followed by theological reflections. It is really fitting to make theology the next area for social considerations because, after showing the human limits discussed by philosophy, theology opens avenues for a more transcendent and eternal reality.

Evangelizing Presence

Last year, when I was in Washington, D.C., I met a young French Jesuit Scholastic studying labor relations. We had an interesting conversation about the priest-worker movement in France, where priests actually live as laborers, working in factories and mines. This is an effort of the Church to enliven the faith of one of the secularized and de-Christianed sectors of a society that had once been deeply Catholic. He narrated an experience he had while living and working among factory workers as a Jesuit Novice. One day, a worker mentioned to him that he was building a model of a church out of match sticks and asked for advice on where to place the different parts of the church, such as the altar, the confessional, the bell tower. The young Jesuit Novice was happy to help him in this. Some days afterward, the worker called him and said, “I want to give this model of the Church to you.” The young novice was overwhelmed, saying, “You have worked so hard on it, why don’t you keep it. There is no need to give it to me.” The worker responded, “Please accept it. It means a lot for me to give it to you.” The worker had discovered that this young man who had been working with him was a religious preparing for the priesthood. The young Jesuit Novice’s presence in the midst of the laborers had touched him personally. He remembered the faith of his youth, the faith he had not practiced for so many years. There was awakened a yearning to return to the Church, a yearning for God. The young novice noticed a certain sadness about the laborer as he talked about the Church, almost a desire to be welcomed back into the Church. In some wonderful and mysterious way, the process of evangelization was taking place.

Here in the Philippines, the Church is alive and vibrant; the symbols of the faith are strong. Yet, there is the realization that many of the faithful are not effectively reached by the Church, and there is an increasing secularization taking place, especially among the Westernized elite. What has taken place in many European countries formerly deeply Catholic but now secularized and de-Christianized could take place here in the Philippines. The old faith that is merely cultural, traditional, and pietistic is in danger of being swept away by the winds of social change and of becoming irrelevant to the real issues of life.

The catholic Church is aware of this danger and is intensifying its efforts at promoting evangelization. However, its understanding of evangilization is key for the life and mission of the Church. One of the great papal documents in the modern Church is Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Evangelization in the Modern World, issued on December 8, 1975.

Theme the late Holy Father says that it is not enough to define evangelization in terms of proclaiming Christ to those who do not know him or of preaching, and conferring Baptism and other sacraments. (17) This is only part of the reality. Evangelization is in fact the totality of the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. (14) For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News to all the strata of humanity and, through its influence, transforming humanity from within and making it new. (18) It is a complex process made up of varied elements which are complementary and mutually enriching. These elements include the renewal of humanity, the evangelization of culture, the primary importance of witness of life, the need of explicit proclamation of the Gospel, a vital and community acceptance, and apostolic initiative. (24) This evangelization must proclaim a transcendent and eschatological salvation in Jesus Christ, beginning in this life but fulfilled only in eternity. (27) This evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and man’s concrete life, both personal and social. (29) Between evangelization and human advancement including development and liberation there are fact profound links. (31)The message of salvation in Jesus Christ should be proclaimed without reduction or ambiguity. (32) It must envisage the whole man, in all his aspects, right up to and including his openness to the absolute, even the divine Absolute. (33)The Church is certainly not willing to restrict her mission only to the religious held and to dissociate herself from man’s temporal problems. (34) Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit. (75) Through the Holy Spirit, the Gospel penetrates to the heart of the world, for its is he who causes people to discern the signs of the times-signs willed by God- which evangelization reveals and puts to use in history. (75)

That is the heart of the teaching of Evangelii Nuntiandi, regarding the nature of authentic evangelization, a teaching that has been clearly continued by Pope John Paul II, and beautifully expressed in the Puebla Conference, the meeting of the Latin American bishops in 1979, which spoke of “liberating evangelization.” So, we ask, if this is so clearly the teaching of the Church, why is it not such a dynamic and living reality in the life of the Church? My analysis is that people simply do not understand what integral evangelization is. For many, they do not have an integral faith life. There is a dichotomy between their faith life and their human life. There is a dichotomy between their faith life and their human life. They have compartmentalized their region. Of course, all this is a matter of degree, but that is my point: there is a need for the Church to promote a more integral and holistic faith response in the lives of all its people allowing the Gospel to permeate very are of life.

In the light of the foregoing, I believe that integral evangelization is the basic vision that should permeate all activities within the Church. I have tried to foster and promote this vision in my own apostolate, especially in teaching and reflecting together with my faculty members in the Theology Department of the Ateneo de Davao University as well as with our graduate students in our Graduate Theology Program. In this issue of Tambara I want to share with you the fruit of some of these endeavors in the hope that a fuller explicitation and understanding of integral evangelization will lead to a greater actualization of a reality already present in the life of the Church, especially here in the Philippines.

Allow me to begin by defining integral evangelization: the proclaiming of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament bringing about a personal conversion impelling one to a greater involvement in the process of humanization, the process of true human development and liberation. The evangelization process must, therefore, not stop at the point of personal conversion but must lead to active involvement in the life of the Church and in fostering the human. To stop after the experience of personal conversion without active involvement in the efforts of daily life will result in the conversion experience being lost and the person falling back to where he was before. There is too much passivity in the Church, especially among many of the laity. There is a need to promote dynamic active participation in the life and mission of the Church. The evangelized are called to become evangelizers. The evangelizer must proclaim a clear message of salvation in Jesus Christ, a message that must not divorced from life but must permeate and penetrate concretely all areas of life. Some who have experienced conversion do become active but only in spiritual activities. This is good, but it is not enough. It does not fully manifest the power of the Gospel coming into touch with the realities of people’s lives.

Furthermore, integral evangelization would be significantly actualized by promoting the following: 1) the fostering of an evangelizing presence of the Church in the world; 2) the transformation of the Church into a community of dialogue; and 3) a more effective involvement of the Church in authentic efforts for human development and liberation.

First, there is the need to define, explicitate, foster and actualize an evangelizing presence of the Church in the world. Such a presence would allow the Gospel to permeate and penetrate all areas of human endeavor and renew it from within. Why is it that so many people simply do not seem to care about the Gospel message? Why is it that so many people look upon the Church and faith in Jesus Christ as meaningless? Why are so many caught in a materialistic way of life oblivious to spiritual values? Yet, why at the same time are so many people searching for meaning in life? There is a deep hunger in all men and women for God. Failure to respond to it has resulted in an emptiness and restlessness among them. There is a need for the Church to fill this void with the message of salvation, with the Word of God. What is needed is to explicitate and actualize this presence in symbols that would touch the deepest recesses of the human heart yearning for life, giving witness to that Mysterious Reality, the encounter with Whom will evoke the response of a generous faith. There is a need to spell out the symbolism and signs of this evangelizing presence. Two key areas for this in the life of the Church are the fostering of community and the actualizing of mission.

This leads us to our second point: the Church should become a community of dialogue. We are only too aware that our world is a world of alienation: within ourselves, between ourselves and others, and between ourselves and God. Left to ourselves, there would be no hope of healing. Fortunately, this alienation has been shattered by the coming of Jesus Christ. He enables us to approach the Father. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) In enabling us to fulfill our transcendent drive to union with God, and community, Jesus enables us to become more fully human, to become more fully who we are called to be. Furthermore, he heals our brokenness and forgives our sins, enabling us to grow in wholeness and humanness through his great gift of the sacrament of reconciliation. What a pity it is that this sacrament is in such disuse these days in spite of our continuous need for conversion, for healing, for reconciliation, for forgiveness. There is a need for the Church to make this special gift present in the life of her people, in the life of the world. It is essential for full humanization. It is so necessary for our life together.

The Church should therefore become a sign and instrument of this reconciling power of Jesus, a community of dialogue in which we both challenge and support each other in our efforts at evangelizing presence.. There is a basic unity in the Church which must be realized, but we must not expect homogeneity in the Church. There are many different expressions of the faith, many different ecclesiologies, Christologies, ideologies, political orientations. A key problem in the life of the Church today is to actualize unity amidst such diversity. What a shame that such differences do not bring forth the richness of diversity but the scandal of division. Those of one position tend just to speak with those of similar positions. What is destructive of an evangelizing presence. Instead of these negative tendencies, there should be deepening of our union in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the realization that there are many ways to love this out. Among these there must be efforts at dialogue, searching for the truth together challenging each other if we believe there is no evangelizing presence in our respective approaches, and supporting each other if we believe there is. Of course, this is not easy. To do this well, we need facilitating leadership, true authority for service, able to bridge differences and bring people together. Community is always in process of becoming. A true community of dialogue is a true sign of evangelizing presence. Unless the Church is able to actualize this struggle for community within herself, how can she be a credible sign in proclaiming this to the world? Unless the Church actualizes this, she proclaims an empty word.

This leads to our third point, namely, that the Church must become significantly involved in efforts for human development and liberation. The mission of the Church is to foster and proclaim the Kingdom of God, to foster the Kingdom of love, peace, and justice in the midst of a world torn by hatred, violence, and injustice. Jesus Christ initiated this mission in his very Person. This therefore must be the mission of the Church on following her Lord. The Church must be a credible sign in fostering this mission. She cannot simply preach without action; otherwise, she preaches an irrelevant word. She must accompany her people in their journey, sharing their pain as they struggle with the Cross embedded in their personal and social situations, while manifesting the powerful presence of the Risen Lord, always a hopeful sign. To do this well, the Church must foster all aspects of its social mission: the charitable, developmental, and liberationists approaches.

To focus on only one approach would be deficient. No one approach is sufficient in itself. Yet each makes a contribution to the development, liberation, and humanization of God’s people. The charitable approach supplements the deficiencies of public services and tries to help the poor and destitute meet their basic needs. The Church has always been strong in this approach by sponsoring schools for the poor, hospitals, orphanages, low-cost housing, and nutrition and feeding programs. However, essential as the charitable approach is, it is not enough because it merely helps those in need to survive; it doesn’t make them progress. Thus, there is also the need for the developmental approach which tries to give people skills to help themselves socio-economically. The church has done this by fostering credit unions and cooperatives, promoting small-scale industries and local handicrafts, and the increase of agricultural production. Yet even these efforts are not enough because development efforts soon encounter the unjust structures in society that favor the powerful and wealthy and oppress the weak and poor. Thus, there is the need for the liberationists approach as well to make the poor aware of their own human dignity as well as the unjust structures. These people’s organizations are either community or sectorally based, such as farmers, fishermen, or urban poor groups. The poor themselves are the agents of change. However, all efforts of the Church in the social sphere should and must be guided by gospel values. Simply to engage in social action, community organizing, or conscientization efforts without being guided by and actualizing Gospel values would not to be calling forth the power of the Spirit to help in the effort. What is needed is both competence and evangelizing presence. This is true for every apostolate of the Church, whether it be charitable, developmental, or liberationist.

In fostering evangelizing presence, the Church must be contextualized, fostering the process of inculturation, going to the roots of culture, challenging and revitalizing it with the presence of God’s powerful Word. The contexts of the local Churches differ. There is certainly a difference in the contexts of First and Third World Churches, Yet, whatever the context, the basic reality is the same. One reason why many of the local Churches in the Third World experience a more dynamic faith life than their sister Churches in the First World may be that they have been forced to respond to the severe socioeconomic and political realities which have violated the humanity of their people. That response in faith has brought much vitality to the life of the Church. Perhaps the seeming irrelevance of the Church in the First World is caused by a low level of response to the problems facing her people. This may be so because the degree of material prosperity and economic and political security in the First World seems to call for a less urgent response to the needs of the people. However, the first World Churches must realize that although the problems are different, there are also urgent demands of their people that they must respond to. Notice that I am not saying that the First World Churches are not responding to the needs of their peoples, but that the type, level, and actualization of that response clearly affects the faith life of these Churches. The local Churches of the First World can learn much from the pastoral experiences of their sister Churches in the Third World.

Ultimately, this matter of evangelizing presence leads to the question of the role of the laity in the Church. The tendency in the Catholic Church has been to depend too much on the hierarchy and the religious. This has resulted in the passivity of many of the laity. What is needed is to call them forth to a more responsible and active participation in the life and mission of the Church. Since the laity are characterized by their secular nature, they are in the privileged position of being able to bring the Gospel into every area of life: socio-economic, political, and cultural. They need a spirituality that will sustain them in their professional and familial lives. They need to be given freedom and trust to enable them to do their thing. To allow this to develop harmoniously is another critical area in the life of the Church. Their empowerment is essential for proclaiming the Gospel in every area of human endeavor. This is not to minimize the role of the hierarchy and the religious in the life of the Church. Their role will continue and even grow in the evangelizing efforts to the Church. But there is a need to further empower the laity to be true proclaimers of the Word primarily by the witness of their lives in their everyday activities.

The challenge the Church faces today therefore is the degree of its actualization of integral evangelization. Of course, it is there in the life of the Church, but there is a need to intensify the vitality and dynamism of its presence, allowing the Spirit to move within history with meaningful symbols, awakening within the yearning hearts of men and women an authentic experience of life and fulfillment made possible through Jesus Christ. This is the evangelizing presence that the world needs and has a right to demand from the Church today.

A Profile of the Urban Poor in Davao City

Introduction

Urban studies in the Philippines reveal that while the country is predominantly agriculture, “over one-third of its population as of 1984 are found in urban areas”. While the pace of national urbanization was describe as generally slow during the postwar years, the decade of the seventies saw its acceleration with such trends attributed to the relatives success of the government policy to develop the countryside, disperse industries to areas outside Metro-Manila, and population control in the rural areas.

Thus, even as Metro-Manila was developing with increasing primacy, other urban centers proceeded at a stable pace and the urban ward migration trends steadily continued. However, the gains from urban growth, burgeoning trade and commerce activities, infrastructures and the amenities of urban lifestyle were not equally accessible across the country and across socio-economic groups. Thus, with the resultant dichotomy of the rich minority and the poor majority, the negative indicators of urban growth, i.e. proliferation of slums and squatter communities, rising rates of unemployment and under-employment, and inadequate basic urban service, are major causes of concern not only for government policy and decision-makers and international and local development organizations but more so for the urban population themselves who have to contend with such everyday realities.

Based on the revised poverty threshold income estimated by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as of March 1991, a family of six living outside Metro Manila must earn at least P3,864 a month to be considered within the poverty threshold or barely above the poverty line. This suggest an income level way of the total population estimated to be living even below such a threshold. Unemployment figures provide a similarly bleak picture, estimated at 15.1 percent in the first quarter of 1991, with 4.2 million of the country’s 27.6 million workforce having no jobs during same period.

What about food and nutrition? What do the urban poor eat for sustenance? A comparison of demand for and supply of food reveals that while the country’s food supply over the years was adequate to meet the population’s overall requirements for calories and problem (the Philippines being the fourteenth largest food producer) ,80 percent of the Filipino Children are malnourished. A DOH-FNRI survey in 1982 disclosed that seven out of ten children suffered from some from of malnutrition.

In the area of health, existing public health programs have not been adequate in dealing effectively with the health needs of the population, particularly the larger majority who are poor. The estimated ratio of medical personnel was one for every 20,000 members of the population in the countryside. IN 1985, the hospital-bed ratio was 1:200; for the rest of the regions, the hospital-bed ratio range from 1:600 to 1:1,000. In 1983, more than 70 percent of death in the country did not receive any medical attention, with infectious and parasite diseases reported as major causes of death. On the other hand; poor environment conditions and poor quality of child-care has resulted in high rates in infant-mortality.

In the area of education, while Filipinos have a relatively high literacy level vis-a-vis other countries at a similar level of economic development (83.3 percent of the population above 15 years of age being literate in 1988), there are, however, such problems as inequities in the access to quality education among various socio-economic groups, including the low and declining quality of public schools. Low morale and low pay are issues besetting the country’s restive teacher-population in the 1990’s.

Housing , water supply and electricity are similarly dismal. The 1978-82 Philippines Development Plan reported with the national housing backlog totaling 1,125,000 units in 1977, about 16 percent of the population was either was either homeless or not adequately housed. On the other hand, while the housing problem in the rural areas is considered less acute because of low minimum stands and the ability to the rural population to construct its own housing , urban-dwellers face the pressures of rapid urban population growth and the declining availability of land for housing. Living in precarious housing conditions and congested areas and lacking basic facilities such as water and electricity, the urban poor increasing opt to live closer to work centers (e.g. trade and commerce areas or industrial zones) to save on transport costs despite the hazard of air and water pollution, traffic congestion, noise and urban violence.

Despite past and ongoing efforts of government agencies and non-government organizations addressing the plight of the urban poor in various parts of the Philippines, there are, however, no accurate statistics of the slum and squatter population of the country. Rough estimate suggest “over four million dwellers in slum and squatter colonies in the major urban centers”.

Davao City Situation Analysis

A survey conducted by the National Housing Authority (NHA) from April 1983 to July 1985 in various urban center throughout the country reveals that given its total population of 700,949,000. Davao City has only ten identified slum areas but the proportion of squatters is almost one-third or 238,332 of the absolute population of the city , a size that is almost as large as the combined figures of Metro-Cebu and Iloilo City. This comprises around ten percent of the national population and close to one-fourth of the entire 1980 urban population; they constitute the majority of what is termed as the urban poor. In Davao particularly, roughly 60 percent of the 1.9 population do not own land they live on and the city’s squatter-communities rank second to Tondo – the foremost slum-district in Metro Manila.

Given the worsening poverty and unemployment situation. Davao City along with other cities in MIndanao faces an acute need for housing, threats of dislocation and rising criminality, specifically: illegal gambling, kidnapping, illegal recruitment and white slavery. Recent figures describe the Davao region as the third largest supplier of “Japayukis”, ironically in a region that serves as the base for approximately 200 multinational companies, a gold-mining boom, and increase in investment characterized by new high-rise hotels and fine restaurants.

Objectives of the Study

On the whole, the present study aims to obtain an updated picture demographic and socio-economic make-up of the urban poor in the early 90’s Davao City. Specifically, it seeks to:

1. determine the demographic profile of the urban poor in Davao City
2. established the socio-economic characteristics of the urban poor in Davao City
3. to elicit recommendations for the improvement of the urban poor sector

Significance of the Study

While the immediate importance of the study lies in providing an updated demographic and socioeconomic profile of the urban poor per se, its long-term significance focuses on serving as the basis for policy makers and program planners to review, modify , and implement development programs and other related activities for the upliftment of such marginalized members of our society.

Methodology

Sampling Design. Using multi-stage sampling procedures and nothing Davao City’s high population density relative to other cities in Mindanao, Davao City was purposively selected as one of the three cities covered in the national survey on the urban poor. The barangays for the study were likewise selected purposively, the choice being based on the level of population, housing density and their being identified by the Philippines Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) as “danger zone” , i.e. flood-prone, and swampy or easily-eroded areas along the sea-shores. Six areas in Davao City were subsequently selected as sample-barangays, namely, Agdao Bucana, Talomo, Talusa and Bunawan.

A sample of 400 households was determined using a statistical table indicating a 5 percent (plus or minus) confidence level and a margin of error for a population comprising 100,000 persons and above. The sample was then proportionately allocated among the six barangays. The final household-respondents were chosen systematically, i.e. every fifth house from the first street corner was considered as the respondent.

Data Collection Procedures. A structured interview schedule consisting of the following topics was utilized during the field interview of respondents:

I. Respondent’s Identification
II. Demographic Characteristics/Employment and Income
III. Household Monthly Expenses
IV. Property Ownership
V. Residency and Tenure
VI. Future Plans
VII. Membership in and Benefits Received from Organizations
VIII. Perceived Problems and Solutions.
IX. Value Contributing and Hindering Community Development
X. Perceived Positive Traits that Would Make a Good President of the Philippines

Specification of Variable. The following variables were considered in establishing the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the urban poor sector:

[Refer to the Original Copy]

Data Analysis. Measures of central tendency (e.g. means, percentage and frequency distributions, and modes) were used in the analysis of the data including mean rank measures.

Research Findings*

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

The demographic characteristics of the respondents include age sex, educational attainment, civil status and province of origin. The respondents were household heads or their spouses. Since interview were conducted during the day, the male household heads were not usually available. Consequently, the sex distribution of respondents shows that majority were female (65%) with at least 35 percent males. Furthermore, the respondents were generally married (92.2%). The majority of the respondents were middle-age, i.e. 78.8 percent belonged to the 20 to 49 age-bracket. Only 9 percent were elderly (60-70 age-bracket). Ninety percent of the respondents had receive formal education, having attended either the secondary (45.8%) or the elementary (35.7%) levels. Approximately 18 percent were in college while those enrolled in vocational courses were a limited group (1%). Similar trends were observed among the spouses of the respondents’ with regard to educational attainment.

This present study, indicates that close to half (44%) of the respondents were non-migrant, i.e. having indicated origins from Davao City itself. On the other hand , among the migrants, those from the Visayas region constituted the single biggest group (32.5%). Short-distance migrant,i.e. those mostly coming from the nearby provinces within Region XI, ranked second (15%).

Household Profile

Household Type and Size. The majority of the respondents (67.5%) had nuclear-type of families while 32.5 percent had extended families. The present study indicates similar findings with, more than half of the respondents (56%) having five(5) to eight (8) household members
(See Table 4). On the average, the respondents had 5.99 household members.

Number of living Children. While national estimates place the mean number of children in urban poor families at 5.2 in 1985 the present study has a computed mean number of 3,67 living children. Our respondents thus to have fewer children relative to the national average. The data further reveal that a significant majority of the respondents (65.8% had from one to four living children. The 400 respondents taken together indicated a total of 1,417 children in these survey-sites. The children of the respondents were relatively young , with three-fourths (75.5% or 927 children) belong to the 0-14 age-bracket. The rest (24.5% or 301 children) are older, ranging from 15-21 years old. Among the 927 children ranging from 1-14 years old, 58.1 percent were in-school and 41.9 percent were out-of-school.

Employment and Income

This section provides the various household employment and income-related variables, i.e. focusing on the respondents and their spouses, their children.(0-14 years), the youths (15-21 years) and other adults – including contributions by other family members residing elsewhere. Occupations were classified based on Gelia Castillo’s occupational categories. Close to half of the respondents were unemployed (47.5). Over a fourth of the respondents spouses (28.5%) were likewise unemployed. Over a third of the respondents (33.7%) and their spouses (40.5%) were regularly employed.

Occupation data revealed a proliferation of respondents engaged in the lower-paying service industry, particularly in trade and commerce activities (32.4%), e.i. vending selling either as itinerant hawkers, tending “sari-sari” stores, or engaging in such “buy-and-sell” activities as fish, salt and anchovies. Other primary occupation pursuit included those related for farming to transportation and communication (11.9%), craftsmen, production-process related works (10%), service workers (9.5%), and clerical jobs (2.8%) . A very limited group was engaged in the practice of their own professions (1.9%), including those employment in administrative (1%) and mining-related occupation (0.5%).

Skilled worker (both highly skilled and semi-skilled) were likewise present likewise present, e.g. drivers, carpenters, dressmakers or tailors, construction workers, mat-weaver, mechanics, technicians, sawmill workers, furniture-maker, and factory-workers, including teachers.

At the same time, survey finding provided evidence regarding the extent of couples sharing in their income-earning roles within the household, with more than half (63.8%) of the spouses likewise pursuing various occupations. Again, the single highest group were engaged in trade and commerce, “buy-and sell” activities and acting as sales clerks. The second highest group were involved in transport and communication related works (17.6%) such as drivers, welders, mechanics, radio operators and repairmen. Skills and other crafts and likewise present, e.g. driving, carpentry, dressmaking or tailoring , welding, construction, among others.

Sales-related activities provider the main source of household income (22.3%) such as vending, sari-sari stores, sales clerks and “buy-and-sell”, followed by manual laborers (17.5%), and farm-related occupations (15.5%). Others mentioned those related to transport and communication (15.2%), services such as technical and beautician, (9.7%), craft-making and production (6.2%) , clerical (4.5%), administrative works (2.3%), practice of profession (2%), and mining (0.3%). These sources of income indicate that the respondents mainly relied on wages and salaries (95.5%). The rest (4.5%) relied on the salaries of their children, financial support from children and pensions.

Only a few of the respondents (30.3%) reported secondary sources of income mainly on sales (57%). The other types of secondary sources of income were services as beautician (13.2%), farming and fishing, and craft making and production related jobs (6.6% each), manual laborers (5%), administrative and managerial (3.3%), transportation and communication (2.5%), as teachers and employed in clerical jobs (0.8% each).

Total Monthly Income from Primary and Secondary Source.
The total monthly income from primary sources ranged from P200 to P9,000, with about half earning between P1,801 to P3,400 monthly (48.7%). They earn an average of P2,404 a month from such sources. On the other hand, the earning from the secondary sources range from P100 to P6,000 monthly with almost three-fourths (74.4%) reporting income between P100 to P2,460 a month. They earn an average of P1,670 a month.

Child Employment (0-14 Years Old). The research findings revealed a limited number of working children among the household covered for the study,i.e. one percent or 4 respondents claiming to have children contributing to family income. A total of seven (7) children were reported working at the time of the survey or an average of 1.75 working children per respondent.

These children were employed either as fishermen, vendors of pandesal and/ or fish and as laborers, earning an average of P38 a month.

A total of 37 or an average of 1.3 youths were reported working primarily as service workers (43.2%). Other were employed either as sales workers (29.7%) like fish vendors “sari-sari” store owners, and salesclerks, as transport-related workers and manual laborers (10.8% each) or a fishermen (5.4%). They earned from as low as P100 to as high as P4,500 monthly, with modal income concentrated in the P100-980 income bracket (59.5%). The earned a monthly average of P1,110.

Adult Employment. Data finding revealed that less than a fifth (16%) of these household had employed adults residing with them (64 respondents), with a total of 94 or an average of 1.47 working adults per household. The majority of those households with employed adults have at least one working adult (67.2%). These adults worked primarily as laborers (29.8%) or as sales workers (24.5%). The rest in descending order were employed either as office clerks (13.8%), service-related workers, (11.7%), or drivers and factory workers (5.3% each). Administrative workers, teachers, and miners constituted approximately 3.2 percent each.

On a monthly basis. the employed adult earned from P50 (minimum) to P3,500 (maximum), with more than (69.1%) earning less than P1,800. The computed monthly mean income for these employed adults was P1,496.

Fifty four respondents (13.5%) reported having unemployed adults within their household,i.e. a total of 102 or an average of 1.89 unemployed adult per household. The finding likewise revealed that more than half of the respondents had at least one unemployed staying with them.

Monthly Income Contributions by Other Family Members. Less than one-fifth (16.3%) of the total respondents reported having receive income from other family members residing elsewhere. i.e. siblings, friends and other relatives. Such contributions ranged from as low as P25 to as high as P6,000 monthly (62.2%). On the average approximately P1,432 was received monthly as contributions from other family members.

Monthly Household Income. Given the various income sources total mean household income was P3,154. This was significantly lower relative to the NEDA estimates (As of March 1991) that a family of six must earn P3,864 month or P46,368 a year to survive. Regional variations in commodity prices and cost-of-living indices provide little consolation. The average monthly income was likewise lower than the poverty threshold (P3,916) established by NEDA as of May 1991 for the whole country. Given the poverty threshold figure for the whole country (P3,864), the research finding revealed that the incidence of poetry among the respondents was 71 percent (or 284 respondents)- a figure higher than the national figure of 60 percent – meaning that almost three-fourths of the respondents failed to meet the daily needs for survival.

Monthly Household Expenses

Comparing the mean household income figures (P3,154) and expenses (P2,804) of these urban poor households, however, suggest the possibility and saving at a monthly average of P350.00 (representing 11 percent of total monthly household income). On the other hand, how do these urban poor households spend their income? what values and priorities are reflected in their mode of expenditures?

Food expenses constituted the single highest expense-item,i.e. 52 percent of the average total household income on a monthly average of P1,623.50. Amortization payments (either for lots appliances, or other types of loans) ranked second at 38 percent or an average are likewise spent on fuel and other energy-sources (at least P542.7 per month) not a by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), charcoal, kerosene, electricity and firewood, in the order. Still other alternative fuel-source used are rice husks and saw dusts. Insights into these urban poor’s priorities in life are further provided by finding on expenses for leisure and recreation e.g. Christmas holidays, fiestas and birthdays, and money spent for liquor, cigarettes and gambling. These constitute approximately 25 percent of total income or an average of P630.50 per month. On the other hand, monthly expenditures for other basic needs like transportation (304.90), education (P128.00) and clothing (P111.10) make up roughly 18 percent of total household expenditures.

Appliance and Property Ownership

What tangible and physical assets do these families own? What ,odes of ownership prevail among urban poor households? Televisions (black and white), tape-cassette recorders, electric fans, sala sets, and cabinets – in that order – were the most popular possessions (ranging from 30% to as high as 41%) among the respondents. To a limited extent, wall clock, radios and colored televisions were likewise reported. Lot ownership, on the other hand, were claimed by at least 25 respondents and included either residential or agricultural lands (3% percent).

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (61.7%) were local migrant, i.e. 34.5 percent moved from areas within the residence-barangay and 27.2 percent from within Davao City. About 18.5 percent may be considered as original occupants in the survey sites having claimed they had not lived in any other places. The rest (16.3%) claimed to have resided outside of Davao City mainly on other regions in Mindanao.

The reasons cited for leaving their previous residence generally suggest the strong “pull” factor of the cities,i.e. the attractions of the new area given its perceived economic opportunities (26.7%), including opportunities to own a house and lot (10.1%) and change of work (1.2%). On the other hand, “push”-factors are similarly present: the bad conditions of the previous residence (18.0%), eviction/demolition (13.5%), natural calamities (8.3%), and family-related reasons like marriage (6.1%).

Close to half respondents (47%) have stayed from one to 90 months in their residence or approximately 7.5 years. More than half (53%) have stayed in their current residence more than sever years. They resided in their current residence for an average of 156.65 months or 13.05 years. The top-three reasons most cited for staying in the current residence consisted of 1) the opportunity to own a lot and house or at least a place to stay (50%),2) access to work and other social amenities like education and health(39%) and 3) family-related reasons like living near their relatives (25.0%). Still other mentioned the security provided by the place (8%), or having been convinced by relatives and friends to squat i the area “(5.5%), or the area their place of birth (3%). A common perception is that security of land tenure would easily be the most crucial problem confronting squatters. Survey data, however, revealed that the respondents were divided on the issue. A little more than half claimed they had no fears of being evicted from their current residence (52.5%) while 47.5 percent expressed otherwise. Among those who admitted feelings of insecurity, the predominant explanation cited was either the absence of land tenure or any assurance of ownership, including alternative places to go to (76.3%). Other mentioned the problematic acquisition procedures (10.5%), the constant fear of possible plans and actions by the landowners regarding the place (10%), and government action itself (6.3%). A limited group noted the consequences eviction would have on their livelihood activities (1.6%), including the cost of moving to another area and the lack of unity among residents (0.5% each).

On the other hand, those who claimed to have no fears of eviction mainly explained that opportunities were present for eventual land ownership given their length of stay in the area, the increasing population of squatters, the absence of other claimants and their urgent land-renter status (58.1%). Still others mentioned their land owner’s assurance of land use(36.7%), their existing community organizations and the support of PCUP (5.2%), the assurance of government assistance (1.9%). Four admitted that they would resist eviction (1.9%). Four admitted that they would resist eviction (1.9%). Four admitted that they would resist eviction (1.9%) while two other reported that they have not received any notice of eviction as yet (1%).

Despite the insecurity in land tenure and the dangers posed in residing in slum areas, only a few of the respondents (25 or 6.3%) expressed plans to move out of their current residence. Most of those who planned to move out of their current residence however failed to identify where they would transfer to (36%). Those who did, mentioned mainly areas within Davao City (28%) or at least just within the barangay (8%). The rest identified such destinations as Davao del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Region IX, Region X, Visayas(4% each) and Luzon (8%). Such plans of moving from their current residence were mostly influenced by the desire for better job opportunities (40%). Other mentioned their insecurities regarding possible land ownership (12%), opportunities for land-purchases possible and ownership (12%), opportunities for land-purchases(8%), including the need to be independent from parent (8%) and to have a decent place for their children who are studying (4%).

Respondents responded negatively when asked whether they had ever experience being relocated. About 95.5 percent had no experience of relocation. Only a few (4.5%) did. Those who were relocated were mostly transferred to the Mandaya Village-Talomo (83.2%). Still other mentioned transferring simply within their barangay (5.6%). Asked about the circumstances which their barangay (5.6%).. Asked about the circumstances which brought about their eviction, the majority pointed to the use of the land for a church-building (83.2%). Other reasons cited were: having lost the case regarding the land-disputes, the area being appropriated by the government, or the area being burned (5.6% each). The majority were located in September 1990 (72.0%) while others moved during the period 1972 to October 1990 (28%). Asked what agency was responsible for their relocation, the majority mentioned the church (83.2%), while others mentioned the city government (11.1%).

Health and Nutrition

The majority of the respondents (93.7%) claimed that households members were afflicted with illness during the last two years, with the rest (6.3%) claiming otherwise. Some data of this study, however, do not specify the specific disease. Asked to rank the disease from the highest incidence to the least within their households during the preceding two (2) years, the respondents identified the top three ailments as fever, cold and fever, cough and fever for children, young adults, and adult respectively. Such illnesses being symptomatic of pulmonary diseases, research finding suggest the needs for such ailments to be diagnosed properly by medical personnel. Other disease most prevalent among children were diarrhea (Rand “4”), measles (Rank “5”), pneumonia (Rank “6”), brochitis (Rank “7”), gasto-intestinal problems (Rank “9.5”). Young adults were most commonly afflicted with diarrhea (Rank “4”),pneumonia (Rank “5”), and gastro-intestinal diseases (Rank”%”), hypertension (Rank”^”), tuberculosis(Rank “7”) and bronchitis (Rank “8”).

The majority of the respondents (84.7%) had available of various medical and health services, either from the government health center and personnel (68.7%) or from private clinics or practitioners from the public health centers were more accessible, available and affordable to the majority of the community residents that the private health services.

Organizational Membership

Survey finding showed a high level of organizational participation by these respondents, with more than three-fourths (81.2%) of the respondents belonging to various community organizations and with a total of 475 community organizations identified by the respondents (or an average of 1.46 organizations per respondent). The respondents usually belonged to from one to four types of organizations. More than half (64.9%), though, were member of at least one community association. Other belonged to two organizations (25.5%), with the rest either three (8%) or four (1.5%) organizational affiliations each. Roughly three-fourths (75.4%) of these were people’s organizations. The rest were either non-government (23.8%) and government organization (0.8%).

Most of the respondents (60.4%) generally to either the urban-poor/cause-oriented types of organizations, with a smaller group (22.5%) mentioning religious groups. The rest invariably belonged to either economic-based/income-generating types (5.3%), civic (4.4%), socio-cultural (3.6%), youth (2.9%), political (0.8%), health (0.4%) and land based (0.2%) types of organizations. On the whole , less than a fourth (20.9%) of the respondents reported having receive some form of assistance or benefits from the organizations they belonged to. The other (79.1%) claimed otherwise. The 68 respondents-beneficiaries received mainly either technical (85.3%) or financial assistance (76.5%). Other forms of assistance were materials (32.4%),spiritual development (23.5%), being organized (7.5%), assistance in land-negotiations (2.9%),cooperation (2.9%), gifts (1.5%) and value-formations (1.5%).

A very limited group (53 respondents representing 16.3%) claimed having received some form of training from their organizations, with the majority (83.7%) claiming otherwise. Training activities received were usually in the acquisition of various skills (43.4%) and leadership training (32.1%). The others mentioned marriage enrichment seminars (5.7%), family-planning seminars (5.7%), membership seminars (5.7%), orientation on Community Mortgage Programs (3.8%), community-organizing seminars (1.9%), charismatic seminars (1.9%),drug prevention (1.9%) and loan application seminar (1.9%). The training were mainly sponsored by government (43.4%) and people’s organizations (41.5%).

Perceived Community Problems

The respondents were asked from a list of at least seven types of community problems and to rank such problems according to their perceived urgency,e.g. land tenure, livelihood, water, sewerage/drainage, peace and order, among others. As ranked , the top three major problems were insecurity in land tenure (Rank 1.23), water (Rank 1.92), and livelihood /unemployment (Rank 2.00). The other problems mentioned included poor sewerage/drainage systems (Rank 2.03), peace and order (Rank 2.29), and light(Rank 2.35).

Other community problems mentioned by the respondents in varying degrees were subsequently re-classified as physical/infrastructures-related, e.g. poor roads, no bridges, swampy flooded areas, erosion due to high tides/tidal waves, foul smelling canals,lack of any sea wall protection , congested areas and others. The rest were health/sanitation-related, e.g. limited toilets, poor sanitation practices, poor garbage disposal, inaccessibility of a health center, poor health, and a limited supply of medicines; economic-related, as lack of food supply, inadequate capital, and limited fish catch; and social, as lack of unity, rampant gambling and non-ownership of their house.

Given such community problems , what solutions were offered but these respondents? Focusing on the top two mentioned solutions, a variety of recommendations were given: For problems relating to land tenure, the respondents mainly mentioned seeking the assistance of the government /barangay officials (27.7%) and for the organizations to negotiate with landowners to sell their lands to the squatters (26%).

Livelihood /unemployment problems, on the other hand, were likewise perceived as capable of being solved by seeking the assistance of the government (43.4%) while water-related problems were expected to be remedied by putting up a water system (51.1%) . Problems relating to light and electricity would hopefully be resolved by requesting Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), i.e. the Davao City -based electrical company to install light facilities (63.2). Sewerage and drainage problems may be solved by harnessing the “bayanihan”-system, e.g. organizing the community members are best resolved by participating in barangay-tanod (volunteer neighborhood security forces) activities (38.1%) and by respecting one another (33.3%).

Irregardless of the community problems indicated, survey respondents consistently mentioned manpower, specifically volunteer manual labor,as the most available resources that could to be tapped to solve community problems. Varying resources were, however, indicated for solving such problems as unemployment, light, or those relating to peace and order. Majority of the respondents (62%) are aware of some form of assistance provided in solving the community problems, with 38 percent claiming otherwise. Such assistance generally came from government organizations (86.2%), with the rest non-government (16.4%) and people’s organizations (10.5%). Political organizations served as the single biggest group (29.6%) providing assistance in solving community problems. The rest consisted of religious-types of organizations (19.1%), and land-based groups (10.5%), among other. The assistance provided in solving community problems was generally technical (53.9%), or in terms of material assistance (36.2%). Other mentioned being provided immunization services (28.3%), financial assistance (11.8%), and, to a limited extent, skills development (0.7%).

Future Plans of the Respondents for the Next Five Years

The respondents were asked regarding their plans for themselves, family, community and country for the next five years.

The respondents’ individual plans were basically economic in nature, i.e. improvement of their economic conditions (32.3%), security of land tenure/land ownership (17.3%), and employment (14.8%). Other plans mentioned included the provision of a good life for their children and family (5.5%), and the improvement of living conditions as in the improvement of house or appliances owned (3.3%). To a lesser extent, eight respondents expressed their desire for good health (2%) or transferring to other place e.g. a farm or their birthplace (1.3%). Twenty-four percent of the respondents failed to indicate their plan for themselves at the time of the survey. The respondents further revealed their beliefs that such plans could be primarily attained either by looking for jobs here and abroad (25%), working hard (17.8%), putting up or expanding business (14.8%), and saving money (14.1%).

Asked about their plans for their families, the respondents expressed mainly their desire to second children (including brothers and sisters) to school (63.3%). Such finding may be explained by the general perception that education provided the best opportunities for higher salaries and decent lives. Still others mentioned for higher for improved economic condition (12.8%) and the acquisition of their own lots and houses (10.5%). To a lesser extent, other plans cited included the renovation improvement of their houses (5.5%), putting up/expanding sari-sari store business (3.3%), good health (1.3%), spending on vacation with the whole family in one’s birthplace (0.5%). The strategy most mentioned by the respondents to attain such plans for the family was to apply/look for better jobs (34.4%). The other strategies cited included putting up/sustaining/expanding business (23.7%), hard work (21.9%), and saving money (17.3%), among others.

While the respondents were squatters in the survey sites, most of them (25.5%) expressed of developing their areas,as,for example,through having concrete roads. They likewise planned to improve the economic conditions of the community members by helping them acquire their own houses and lots (17.0%), putting up promoting peace and order (5.3%), among others.

The respondents revealed their belief that their plans for the community could be attained through cooperation among all members in various community activities (24.6%), not to mention organizing community members (16.9%), giving little cash donations (9.2%), and helping one another (8.8%), among others.

Data further revealed personal plans as a strategy to realize community plans such as , for example, looking for jobs (2.3%),borrowing money as capital (1.2%), and “beautifying and cleaning my surrounding” (1.2%). Other indicated dependence on the government (18.1%) regarding attainment of their community plans.

The singular most mentioned plan for the country was to maintain peace and order (27%), followed to a much lesser extent by reducing prices of basic commodities and helping recover from economic crisis or improving economic conditions (7.3% each). Other plans mentioned for the country included minimizing the nation (2.3%), changing governmental management style or engaging in democratic management (2.0%) – including having capable honest president or even a male president(1%).

Again most of the respondents believed that such plans for the country could be attained by fostering unity or cooperation (27.9%). The rest identified the strict observance of government rules and regulations (20.7%), monitoring or prosecuting corrupt officials (15.9%), and providing employment opportunities (6.3%), among others. The respondents individual plans were basically economic in nature, i.e. improvement of their livelihood , water, sewerage/drainage,peace and order, and others.

Values Perceived as Facilitating (or Hindering) Community Development

The respondents were asked about values perceived as contributing to community development and those that would hinder such development. On the whole, the respondents mentioned at least 22 types of values that would promote community development, with cooperation (711.8%), unity (46.5%), understanding (18.5%) and the “bayanihan”-spirit (13%) as the four most mentioned values. On the other hand, the respondents indicated even more values – at least 49 – which hinder community development. The top two most mentioned were misunderstanding (61%) and non-cooperation (39.5%).

Finally, the respondents were made to identify the positive traits that would make a good President of the Philippines based on a pre-identified list. The most mentioned trait was honesty (98%), followed by being public-service-oriented (89.3%) and intelligent (81%). The other traits included being just and decisive (80.3%). Graft-busting (77.5%), being nationalistic (76.3%), democratic (75.3%), and fearless (74
%) were likewise mentioned. To a lesser extent , others identified having good public -speaking skills (64.8%), and having international stature (51%).

Summary of Findings

The majority of the respondents were females (65%), married (92.2%), had formal education (99.8%), were between 20-49 years old (78.8%) and hailed from region XI (59.0%), particularly from Davao City. The preponderance of female-respondents as attributed to their availability during the survey period, being mostly unemployed and hence in their households.

The majority of the respondents (67.5%) had nuclear families. They has an average of 5.99 household members -such findings being consistent with those of Jimenez (1986) that urban poor families are large with an average of six members per household. They had a total of 1,417 living children or an average of 3.67 per family three-fourths (75.5%) of the children were in the 0-14 age bracket indicating the predominance of a relatively young population. More than half of these children (58.5%) were in school.

Close to half (47.5%) of the respondents were unemployed due to the high proportion of female-respondents. The employed respondents and their spouses were mostly employed in sales-related works i.e. 32.4 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively like vending or selling either as an itinerant hawkers or engaged in the typical “sari-sari” store and other “buy-and-sell” activities. Less than a third (30.3%) reported secondary sources of income, mostly from sales-related works (57%). They earned an average of P2,404 and P1,670 monthly from the main household and secondary sources of income, respectively.

Four household-respondents at least seven children as a fisherman, pan de sal peddler, fish vendor or manual laborer and earning as average of P38monthly.

A total of 37 working were reported by 29 households, usually as service workers (43.2%) and earning an average of P1,110 monthly.

Similarly, 64 households indicated at least 94 adult workers, usually as manual workers and laborers (29.8%) and earning an average of P1,496 per month.

Furthermore, less than a fifth of the respondents (16.3%) receive financial support from other family members not currently residing with them, usually at an average of P1,432 monthly.

Sales-related activities provided the respondents main source of household income (22.3%). The household earned a monthly average of P3,154, i.e. an amount slightly lower than the P3,864 minimum household income Filipino must earn to survive. Survey figures further indicated the relatively high incidence of poverty among the respondents receive high incidence of poverty among the respondents, with 71 percent or 284 respondents-households receiving even less than the poverty threshold figures.

Relating the respondents’ average monthly household expenditure of P2,804 to the average total monthly household income of P3,154 yield an average unexpended amount of P350 per household (approximately 11 percent of the average total monthly household income).

Food expenses constituted the single highest expense item (52 percent of the average total monthly household income at an average of P1,623.50), with amortization payment (38.1 percent of the average total monthly household income) ranking second. The sizable portion of the income spent for fuel and their energy-sources (17.2%) is likewise worth noting.

The five most mentioned appliances owned by the respondents included black and white television (41%), tape/cassette recorders (38.5%), electric fans (34.5%), sala sets (30.8%), and cabinets (29.5%). Lot ownership among the respondents was minimal (25 respondents or 3percent).

More than three-fourths of the respondents (326 respondents or 81.5%) indicated having lived in various areas but mostly in areas within the barangay serving as the survey-sites (42.3%). Residential moves were mainly motivated by the “attraction to the new place due to economic reasons and access to work, education and other physical amenities”(26.7%). In a related manner, close to a fifth (18.9%) of these respondents mentioned being “forced out due to (the) bad conditions of (their) previous residence (such) as high cost of rental and unstable peace and order situation among others.

These survey-respondents have resided in the survey sites for approximately 13.05 years on the average. Furthermore, decisions to stay in their current residences have been explained incariably by the presence of “opportunities to own lots, build houses,purchase lot-rights, rent houses” and the “accessibility of the workplace and other social amenities and the desire to stay in the city”.

Despites problems relating to the security of land tenure, roughly half of the respondents (52.5%) did not fear possible eviction mainly due to the “assurances given by landowners regarding the use of the land “(58.1%). Those who feared eviction, on the other hand, mostly expressed their insecurities given their squatter- or renter-status, including the lack of alternative places to go to (76.3%).

Likewise, only a few intended to move out from their current residence (25 respondents or 6.3%). When asked about their possible destinations, most (36%) had no specific places in mind. Furthermore, such desires to transfer residence were mainly influenced by the need to find better jobs (40%).

Finally, less than a fifth of the respondents (18 respondents or 4.5%) had undergone relocation, mostly in the Mandaya Village, Talomo (83.2%) in September 1990 (72%) as initiated by the local parish of the Catholic Church as a church construction site.

There was a high incident of illnesses (93.7%) reported among the respondents, mostly relating to disease typical in underdeveloped among depressed areas – usually communicable, infectious, preventable but not controlled and sometimes not diagnosed properly due to poverty. These include fever, cough/cold, and cold/fever among children, youths and adults.

Utilization of medical and health services among the respondents was high (84.7%), usually from government health centers (68.7%).

There is a high a percentage of organizational membership among the respondents (81.2%). They were members of an average of at least 1.46 community organizations which were mostly people’s organizations (75.4%) especially urban poor organizations (60.4%).

The benefits received from their organizational affiliations, as indicated by only a fifth (20.9%) of the respondents, was mainly technical assistance (85.3%). Training ,particularly skills training (43.4%),was reported by only 16.3 percent of the respondents.

Land tenure problems (rank 1.23) dominated all other community problems cited by the respondents, followed by water-related problems (rank 1.92). These problems they started, could perhaps be minimized by seeking assistance from the government (26.7%) and installing local water system (51.1%). To help solve such problems, the respondents mainly cited their own manpower resources as the main possible resources of the community.

At least more than half of the respondents (62%) were aware of the various forms of assistance provided to help solve community problems. Such assistance was primarily provided by political type (29.6%) of government organization (86.2%) in the form of technical assistance (53.9%).

Asked about their plans for themselves, the respondents mainly cited plans of improving their economic conditions (32.3%), either through local or overseas employment (25%).

Family -related plans focused on providing for the education of their children , brothers and sisters (63.3%). Relatedly, they observed that such desires could hopefully be fulfilled by having better-paying jobs (34.4%), putting up, maintaining or expanding business (23.7%) and through sheer hard work (21.9).

Despite problems relating to lot-ownership, the respondents expressed their desire to develop their respective communities mainly by cooperating in all community activities (24.6%) and by seeking the assistance of the government (18.1%).

Finally, the maintenance of peace and order (27%) ranked foremost among the plans of the respondents for the country. Similarly, the respondents expressed the belief that these could be attained by fostering unity or cooperation among community members (27.9%) and by adhering to the laws and regulations of the government (20.7%).

While cooperation and unity were the two most mentioned values promoting community development , the lack of cooperation and misunderstanding were regarded as the top two factors which hinder community development.

Implications and Recommendations

The following are the implications and recommendations based on the findings of the study:

A. Policy and Program Issues

1. While survey finding revealed that government agencies were the main providers (86.2%) of service/assistance to solve community problems, collaborative participation of the non-government organization should be harnessed to improve program implementation. The two sectors should jointly assist the communities in the provision of basic services and opportunities of livelihood.

At the same time, the spirit of cooperativism may be helpful to make the urban poor sector self-reliant and self-sufficient, e.g. as in refraining from availing of loans at usurious rates. Small businesses may be establishment to augment their income for as suggested by the data findings, most of their income-sources were derived from buy-and sell activities or sales-related pursuits.

2. As regards their plans for the community, many respondents (25.5%) mentioned are development suggesting the need for the delivery of basic infrastructures and services to the target population.

On the other hand, given the impoverished state of the respondents, their personal plans focused on improving their economic conditions. Such finding suggest programs to improve the basic infrastructure in slum-communities and those which provide livelihood opportunities along with other services. Unemployed women may be organized and provided opportunities to participate in livelihood activities which do not demand their prolonged absence from their homes.

3. Given the high incidence of poverty (71%) among the respondents, other family members – particularly the children were forced to work to augment their parents meager income. This suggest the need for laws that do not hinder children from working but rather protect them from exploitation.

Such situation are but indicative of the dysfunctional patterns of urban growth Davao City and other regional centers are experiencing in the 1990’s. Thus ,centralized planning and implementation of urban development programs of the government should be reviewed and modified to allow region-based or local urban development planning and implementation focusing on industry, including physical and social infrastructures with a view towards possible inter – and intra-regional linkages.

4. The plight of the urban poor respondents, as evidenced by the high incidence of poverty, insecurity in land tenure and housing needs, among others, is but the necessary consequence of the centralized yet lopsided implementation of development programs Manila – the country’s primate city – benefits the most from such urban policies and programs, overshadowing and effectively offsetting development project introduced in the other regions through its own large-scale programs, established by both by the public and private sector. Thus, macroeconomic and growth policies (e.g. infrastructure investments and other public expenditures, private investment particularly those with government participation, under social services, and policies on multinationals and foreign investments) should be reviewed to effect a more decentralized economic development that will benefits the marginalized sectors of the society development that will benefits the marginalized sectors of the society in other regional centers. Furthermore, provisions for the use of idle government land, affordable housing programs and massive implementation of the Community Mortgage Programs (CMP) are envisioned to assist this marginalized sector of urban areas.

An integrated approach in thus recommended, i.e. specifically designed not only to address the economic aspect of urban life but other equally important areas such as housing , health and nutrition, access to credit resources, education and ever the need to organize the urban poor so as to assume greater leverage in dealing with government and private agencies.

5. Given the “push – and pull-factors” of migration e.g. attraction to new places due to economic reasons and access to work, access to education and other physical amenities (26.7%), the poor conditions of their previous residences (18.1%) and the available idle urban private and public land, it is deemed necessary that land policy should be reviewed. Likewise, the Community Mortgage Program (CMP), currently implemented nationwide with the assistance of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), should be strong supported and enhanced.

Furthermore, these migration factors indicate the need to development the amenities of the places of origin and to distribute the employment opportunities not only in the city but also on its peripheries.

6. Though more than half of the respondents (52.9%) had no fears of being evicted mainly due to the “assurance of the landowners of the land use “(58.1%), those who feared eviction cited such reasons as the ” insecurity given their squatter-status”, “having no other places to go to”, and simply being mere renters (76.3%). Such finding suggest the need for local government to review existing urban planning and zoning policies to determine proper, just and equitable land use. Likewise, the government together with the non-government agencies – should provide affordable housing programs to the squatter-urban poor sector such a low housing.

7. There is a high incidence if illness (93.7%) among the respondents and their family members usually, fever, cough/cold, and cold/fever – which were mostly communicable, infectious and preventable and were not properly diagnosed due to poverty. Given the varied health-related programs implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) and their own problems regarding the availability of the outreach personnel, the assistance of the private sectors should be enlisted. However, clear delineation of their various roles and functions is imperative. Also, the DOH family-based health programs, i.e. teaching households to prevent and treat preventable diseases, should be religiously implemented.

8. The respondents plans for their family mainly centered on sending children (including brother and sister) to schools (63.3%). These were perceived to be best attained by applying or looking for better paying jobs (34.4%), putting up,sustaining or expanding businesses (23.7%) and through hard work (21.9%). They would demand the all-out support of government and non-government agencies in providing education (both formal and informal) to these marginalized member of urban society.

9. The survey result pointed out the general source of assistance were the government , non-government and people’s organizations. This implies the need for coordination and integration of policies, program and projects among different agencies concerned with the welfare of the urban poor. However, the tasks and functions of these institutions should should be clearly defined to avoid overlapping.

10. Given the major top community problems of squatting (due to the unavailability of land and lack of employment opportunities), the creation of alternative employment sites in the urban peripheries and rural areas – similar to an ” industry dispersal” or “back-to-the-provinces” program by the government in partnership with the non-government and people’s organizations – may be desired.

11. Given the implementation of the Local Government Code, it is strongly recommended that the collaborative participation of non-government organizations be harnessed and share in the social responsibility through intervention strategies such as:

a) organization and group-building for squatters as a collective entity so that an association is formed with advocacy and project management capabilities to work for their collective good;
b) introduction of socialized financing to organized squatters;
c) implementation of low-cost housing programs and services to address the attendant problem of squatting
d) integration of other basic services that answer the needs of the urban poor.

12. Less than half of the respondents children (41.5%) are not attending school. Thus, youth-centered programs have to be instituted by the government and other concerned agencies.

13. The incorporation of the communication Organizing through Participatory Action Research (COPAR) approach in the program implementation for the urban poor is likewise recommended. This would facilities the “bottoms-up” approach to development, i.e. allowing the target beneficiaries to understand their situation plan the appropriate strategies to address the situation and implement the plans in partnership with the program implementors. This is to ensure sustainable development.

The Social Scene in Davao 1900-1945

The years 1900-1956 saw the coming to Davao of more and more foreign migrants, from far away lands, and domestic migrants, from other parts of the Philippine Archipelago, seeking wealth, freedom, and a better life. The population of Davao increased with the influx of these migrants. such a situation made Davao a society of immigrants, who dared explore new frontiers.

By the time the Americans came to Davao as a new colonial power at the turn of the 19th century, Davao was already peopled by the indigenous ethnic tribes found in the interior of hinterland; by the Muslim settlers, found along the the coasts; and by Christian Filipinos (the descendants of Davao’s first Filipino Christian settlers of 1818 and the Christian Filipino migrants from Luzon and the Visayas, who migrated to Davao to escape political persecutions in their provinces), army deserters, a few fugitives, and the foreign migrants (Chinese, Indonesians, Hindus, Bombays, Syrians, Lebanese) who inhabited the cabacera or town proper.

Davao is a province of many ethnic tribes. Ethnic division among the local population in the community arose as a matter of historical development. The different ethnic tribes had already formed their own communities. Each tribe is different from the other tribes. There was cultural interaction among tribal communities. Their activities were determined by the social practices within their communities. They retained their own languages and their traditional way of life.

The indigenous ethnic tribes are the Atas, Bagobos, Guiangans, Tagakaolos, Bilaan, Manobos, Mandayas, Mansakas and other who live in the interior or hinterland.

The Muslim inhabitants of Davao came from Maguindanao, Cotabato and other parts of Mindanao and Sulu. The Davao Muslims were observed to have the same customs as the other ethnic tribes except that they abstain from eating pork. they were not feared, because of their isolation and their small number. They inhabited the coast of navigable rivers because their homes were small boots. Davao Muslims were nomadic and scattered themselves along both sides of the river and did not form villages, unlike the other ethnic tribes. Their occupations were fishing and trading. Among the Muslims, the effects of public and private education were slowly felt. Although these Muslims regard the Southern Islands as their ancestral homeland, they are now minority in the area because of Christian migration, wherein they somehow suffered systematic social disadvantage.

Both the indigenous ethnic tribes and the Davao Muslims are now exposed to Western culture. Most of the indigenous tribes now dress like other Christian Filipinos and only wear their elaborate traditional clothing during rare occasions like fiestas. But the Davao Muslims, like those in other parts of Mindanao, remained faithful to their Islamic religion and native traditions, as well as to their native costume, the malong. They are no longer polygamus and slaveholders. There are no more juramentados among them. Even in their language, the indigenous tribes and the Muslims are now conversant in Tagalog, Visayan and English.

To promote community life among the nomadic indigenous tribes and the Muslims and to break their migratory habits, the newly arrived Americans, who were able to settle and acquire undeveloped lands, encouraged these tries to settle in fixed communities. Those who were in the highlands were transferred to the coasts and provided labor to the newly opened plantations of the Americans. But the natives, especially the Bagobos, did not like living in the plantations. The Chinese were far more numerous than the Americans and other migrants.

Established Communities and their Social Organizations

It is said that people are the greatest assets of a community. Without them there can be no society and without society no community can exist.

The early American community in Davao was composed of former soldiers-turned-settlers/planters, school teachers, Protestant missionaries, engineers who built bridges and roads, government officials and their families. They look active part in the different social activities in the community.

The socio-cultural influences of the American were the democratic way of life, public education and the Protestant Religion. In 1903, Rev. and Mrs. Robert Black were sent by their home church in the United States to Davao upon the request of the pioneer American planters and congregational missionaries in the primitive and pestilential Davao Gulf area.

More and more pioneer settlers acquired undeveloped lands. They developed the land into plantations that started the plantation economy in Davao. most of these plantations that started the plantations economy in Davao. Most of these plantations were located around the Davao Gulf area.

The Americans settled in their coastal plantations. The wives of some planters described life in the frontier community as joyful, despite hardships and deprivations. Every so often, they would board launches, which plied the Davao Gulf to make business with the native inhabitants in the interior. They bought abaca and sold things that they had.

Clubs were organized in the community to keep alive a vital and invigorating community spirit. In the town proper or cabecera, an American Club was organized where, on weekends, it served as the gathering place for lonely planters and their families coming from the coast plantations. The club became the center of social activities and a place for Americans to relax and share experiences with one another. People in the poblacion lived simply, with no hotels and no recreation centers, except one cinema house, owned by Jerry Roscom, an American Settler.

The town proper had for its inhabitants mostly the Visayan Christians, who were recruited by the American and Filipino migrant planters from the Visayas to work on their newly-opened plantations and the third generation descendants of the first Christian settlers of 1848. The other inhabitants were the foreign migrants like the Chinese, Hindus, Bombays, Syrians, a few Americans,and some Japanese.

American Cultural policies were heavily concentrated on public education. Public Schools were established and opened on both on the elementary and secondary levels in the town proper and outskirts . In the beginning, school officials and teachers were Americans, but later, the Filipinos took over after they were trained to teach. But most of the indigenous ethnic tribes resisted education. School officials and teachers exerted efforts to reach them for the education of their children. Extension classes were opened in the mirror to reach the most isolated tribes.

During the period, there was only one public elementary school and one public secondary school, the Davao High School, in the poblacion proper. Both schools were first located at Magallanes Street. The only elementary school in the poblacion proper, the Davao Central School, was opened in the early 1920. In the outskirts, the first school was put up to Daliao, being the center of development in 1918. When the Sta. Ana area in the poblacion was developed, another elementary school was established which was the Sta. Ana Elementary School.

The first private schools at the time were: the Immaculate Conception Institute (now University) for girls, founded by the RVM Sisters: St. Peter’s school for boys (first handled by the Jesuits and later by the P.M.E priests); and the Davao Institute which was established by Mr. Godofredo Duremedes. Now at Claveria Street in the vicinity of the Awad building.

The Immaculate Conception College was a Catholic school originally established for girls. It was managed by the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM), a congeregation founded by a Filipina, Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo. The ICC was founded by three pioneering RVM Sisters in 1905. These sisters laid the foundation for a Mission School here in Mindanao. A year after they arrived, a formal school, St. Peter’s Parochial School, was opened.

As the Population grew, more schools were opened. Fresh high school graduates were hired to teach elementary school pupils because of the shortage of teachers. The school’s Division Superintendent then, Mr. John Stumbo, even recruited fresh graduates of the Zamboanga Normal High School, Class 1937, to teach in Davao.

During the period of the 1920’s the Japanese community grew and developed in Davao. Ohta Kyosaburu became one the leaders of the Japanese community. It was also during this period that the Japanese colony in Davao continued to prosper. A self-contained community had developed. There was the Japanese School, built on one of the main streets (present site of the University of Mindanao along Bolton St.); clinics and hospitals (like the Mintal Hospital), staffed by Japanese doctors and Nurses, were opened; newspapers came direct from Japan; Japanese shops and banks were opened and Japanese-style houses were built and also Japanese entertainment parlors were opened. In March 1920, an annex of the Manila Consulate of Japan was opened in Davao and housed in the site where the present University of Mindanao Gymnasium is located.

The Japanese community was well-organized and self-contained. the Japanese settlers were observed by other inhabitants as industrious, cooperative, thrifty, and obedient to laws. The Japanese community established the Japanese Davao Association, which served as the center of their activities. The association coordinated the social interests of the Japanese settlers. It was organized to assure better living conditions for the members and their families. It also provided financial and medical assistance to those in need of help and extended educational benefits to the member’s children. Primary and secondary schools were built and maintained by the Japanese Davao Association in the town proper and on the outskirts, patterned after the prevailing system in Japan, with Nipongo as the medium of instruction.

Michael E. Dakudao, a Doctor of Architecture by profession (he finished his Masteral and Doctoral degree in Architecture at Tokyo University in Japan), had this to say about the Japanese in Davao…;

While in Davao, the Japanese adhered to the whole fabric of Japanese customs and traditions and they introduced dominant institutions towards maintaining a high consciousness of the Japanese way of life. The Nippon Jin Kai (Japanese Association), which functioned as the governing body of the Japanese nationals, was founded on May 1, 1916. The first Japanese Consulate building was constructed in 1920. By 1936, a total of 12 Japanese Primary Schools were established. Regarding the Japanese religion, shrines and several temples were built on the areas where the Japanese Settled. The first modern hospital in Davao, the Ohta Development Company Hospital in Mintal, was built by the Japanese.

Mintal was known then as “little Nagasaki” because there were more Japanese residents there than Filipinos. Japanese schools were opened where only Japanese children were enrolled. The Mintal Hospital was opened, with Japanese doctors and Japanese nurse employed. Only a few Filipino doctors were hired, like Dr. Santiago P. Dakudao, Sr. and Dr. Juan Santos Cuyugan, to name a few.

The Japanese community also constructed and maintained private roads which were also opened to the public without charge. The number of Japanese residents in Davao, ad recorded in 1937, totaled 15, 150.

There was communal exclusiveness among the Japanese settlers that prevented their integration into the mainstream of Davao society. Only a few married native women.

During the late 1920s and the middle of the 1930s, the town population was small. The Dabawenyos then active in social life were the third generations descendants of Davao’s first Filipino Christrian settlers of 1848, who came with Oyanguren in the latter’s “conquest”of Davao. These Dabawenyos, aware of the social role they had to play, put up organizations to embrace the natives of Davao, as well as the migrants who decided to make Davao their home. They organized the “Hijos de Mindanao“, which was later changed to “Hijos de Mindanao y Sulu“, to include the Sulu Muslims in Davao under the Leadership of Davao Kanapia with whom the “Hijos developed a strong brotherhood. These Dabawenyos had their annual affairs, usually held as picnics. These affairs were sort of a big family gatherings of Dabawenyos, attended by families and their children, including household helps and friends. They sang Dabaw folk songs under the talisay trees and coconut groves by the beach (as recalled by Noning Lizada, a Dabawenyo historian, in a write-up). the young Dabawenyos studying in Manila organized the “Davao Club”. Whenever the Governor of Davao, Sebastian Generoso, was in Manila he made visits to the Davao Club members.

In the 1930s and early 1940s, as groups of adventurous Filipinos from Luzon, Visayas and other parts of Mindanao came to Davao, after hearing of the good fortune Davao offered, the teen-aged children of the “Hijos de Mindanao y Sulu” formed the “Tayo-Tayo” Club in the town and took as members other children of their ages, regardless of regional origins. This club because the social group of the young and was regarded as the youth club of the time.

In the late 1940s (1945-1946), when World War II ended, the Dabawenyos who pursued their studies in Manila thought of organizing themselves and formed the Club Dabawenyo. Yearly, the members of the club celebrated in Manila the June 29 feast of St. Peter.

The late Atty. Manuel G. Cabaguio, a prominent Dabawenyo, who enroleld in the year 1915 at the San Pedro convent PARVOLITO class, has this to say about the San Pedro Parish, said to be the biggest parish then in Mindanao:

The San Pedro Parish included the present area of the City of Davao, Davao del Sur, the sea coast portion of Davao Oriented of what is now Lupon and Governor Generoso and of Davao del Norte up to the boundary of Agusan. And this parish was served by two and at times, by three priests and two brothers, whose duties were to take care of the church and the convent.

Every year one priest, usually it was the associate priest, went out to evangelized the natives. These visits usually lasted for ten days because of the inadequacy of the transportation. There were no vehicles and the roads were only trails through forest and ravines.

During fiestas, the priest said masses and baptized natives even without the benefit of religious instruction as required now. In the baptism it was the practice to use the surnames of the padrinos who were selected from the prominent people of the community. The trips of the priest to the coastal towns and the hinterlands were dangerous and tiresome. Of course food preparation was excellent and delicious but the priest and his inseparable sacristan had to sleep on bamboo floors. Marriages and baptisms were mostly free unless the padrino happened to be very influential in the community.

The town plaza in the cabecera called the Plaza Oyanguren, now known as Osmeña Park, was a part of the church property until the year 1917 when the first Civil Governor, the late Eulalio Causing from Cebu, requested Fr. Rebull to relinquish church claims on the said portion.

The random recollection of many events during the early Davao days narrated by old-time migrants helps one learn about Davao’s past. One such old-time migrant is Elena Iñigo, known as Aling Nena to the Dabawenyos and the mother of the present Dean of the College of Law of the Ateneo de Davao University. Atty. Hildegardo Iñigo. Aling Nena comes from a Tagalog family that migrated to Davao in the year 1905. She recalls that during the early 1900s there was peace everywhere in Davao. One could sleep soundly at night. People all over Davao seemingly knew one another. She talked of migrants from Luzon who permanently established residence hereabouts. She not only talked of people but also of activities like the arrival of ships from Manila once a month that gave Dabawenyos happiness.

The Cebuanos, Tagalogs, Boholanos, Ilocanos, and other domestic migrants put up their own social organizations. To quote former Judge Pedro C. Quitain, a Batangueño and a Davao old timer, in a written interview he stated that…

On or before 1927 life in Davao was rather dry in that there was not much social intermingling among the people. This could have been due to the diversity of the social outlook among people who come from various sectors of the country. The Visayans obviously socialized among themselves — the Cebuanos, Boholanos, Capizeños, Ilocanos and Antiqueños did the same. They kept themselves in a rather clannish way. Among those from Luzon, the Ilocanos displayed a more prominent clannish disposition compared to the Tagalogs, the Bicolanos, and the Kapampangans who appeared to have developed a certain degree of oneness in more ways than one.

As early years as 1924 the Caveteño migrants from Cavite in Luzon formed their social organization which was called the Buklod ng Cavite. The organization was established in order to help them intermingle among themselves during their free time time and also to help fellow Caviteños who came to Davao for the first time. After the day’s or week’s work, attending to their business of selling meat, fish, and vegetables in the market attending to their transportation business, they gathered in the residence of the transportation business, they gathered in th residence of the Angeleses in Claveria street (one of the three oldest street in Davao) to socialize. The residence was not along the main street but in the “looban” (interior) which served as the liason of all adventurous Caviteños who are the grandparents and parents and parents of the younger Caviteños now, imbued in their children the value of education and discipline. Parents sent their children to school for formal education. By 1926 up to the 1930s, according to surveys, there were already more or less 20,000 Caviteño residents in Davao.

The migrants from the Visayas also formed their social organizations, the purpose of which were also the same as those of the other migrant organizations. The Waray Waray Association was organized by the Leyteños and Samareños who speak the Waray dialect. Like the other migrants’ associations they met and had social affairs.

Masonic ideals and practices were introduced in the province of Davao during the early part of the American regime when Frank Carpenter, and American Mason, was Civil Governor and Celestino Chavez, a Filipino Mason, was Deputy Governor for Davao. It was in 1918 when a group of Masons met for the first time to discuss the idea of forming a Masonic Lodge in Davao. With proper dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Lodge of the Philippine Islands, the Sarangani Lodge No. 50 was organized in 1919 in the town of Davao.

The members of the Masonic group (Sarangani Lodge No. 50) indulged themselves in charitable and humanitarian activities. The influence of Masonry in the Davao society became predominant and noticable. Their annual installation of officers had always been a significant social affair, attended not only by Masons but also by non-Masons with respect. They say Masons contributed much to the social and cultural development of Davao.

Another social activity of activity of great significance was the establishment of the Davao Mason’s Women’s Auxillary composed of wives of Davao Masons. This organization sponsored wholesome social gathering such as grand balls, picnics, excursions or birthday parties that promoted goodwill, unity and fellowship among Davao Masons and Non-Masons. Through this organization, the Davao Puericulture center and the Davao Women’s Club were organized to promote and advance the interest and welfare of mothers and babies.

Festivals were social affairs involving the community. The more popular festivals were religious in nature. The Catholics celebrated yearly the feast of St. Peter every 29th of June. When Fiesta time came people from the outskirts trooped to the town proper to hear Mass in the morning at San Pedro Church and stayed up to late in the afternoon for the procession in honor of the patron saint, St. Peter. Other religious festivals were held on New year, Christmas, and other holy days of obligation. The majority of the Filipino Christian migrants in Davao were Roman Catholics and only a few were Protestants. The foreign migrants also had their festivals. The Muslims also observed their religious obligations.

The organizer of the Protestant church in Davao, related to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), was Rev. Robert Black, the Evangelical Church, who was sent here in 1903 by the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission, now the United Church Board for World Ministries.

The Chinese migrated to Davao, earlier than the Japanese. They had already traded with the native tribes long before the Spaniards came to Davao. They first came as traders bringing with them goods in exchange for Davao Products. But later, when they found great opportunities for a better life and business, they settled here permanently at the turn of the 20th century–the early years of the American regime. These migrants from China intermingled with the other inhabitants of the town proper or cabacera.

The Chinese established their community in the capital town. They organized the Davao Chinese Educational Association with the aim of giving their group the opportunity to be educated. They also established and opened the Davao Chinese High School which was open to both rich and poor. Filipino children were also accepted as students.

By 1923, the Chinese in Davao increase to over a thousand in number, coming from the provinces of Fookien and a Kwangton (Canton), China in search of better opportunities and good life. On June 2, 1923, the Consul General of the Republic of China to the Philippines, Hon. Chao Kuo Shian, arrived in Davao for the first time on an observation tour. Upon seeing the big number of Chinese, school for the children. The proposal was welcomed by the populace. On June 6, a meeting of the Chinese residents was called by the Honorary Consul. During the meeting, the Chinese Educational Association was organized, with Mr. Chua Chin San elected as the First Board Chairman over a board membership of twelve persons. Later, both Mr. Te and Mr. Chua worked for the recruitment of funds and teachers and government approval for the school. On June 3, 1924, the school opened in a rented house on San Pedro Street, with two classrooms to thirty pupils. Because of the dire need for a school site to put up a school building, the Board approached Mr. Juan Lim Villa Abrille who immediately donated a one hectare lot in Sta. Ana Avanue which became the site of the Davao Chinese High School.

Davao is a cosmopolitan community where ethnic groups have preserve their languages and customs. The foreign and the Christian Filipino migrants in the town proper/cabecera maintained a social existence wholly different and distinct from that of the native indigenous tribes and Muslims. Many of the indigenous tribes encountered discrimination and suffered social disadvantages. The gap between the groups was caused by the differences in education, social background, wealth, and social standards. The native indigenous tribes lagged behind the Christian Filipinos and foreign migrants in matters of educational attainment. The Davao Muslims were in an intermediate position culturally between Christian Filipino migrants and the indigenous ethnic tribes.

As an immigrant society, Davao still attracted people from other parts of the Philippines and other lands until the later part of 1945. The people of Davao had proven that people of many different backgrounds could live together in peace and harmony.

Social History of Davao at the end of the 19th Century

Introduction

I am a fifth generation member of one of the first families that established the Spanish settlement in Davao in 1848. My great, great, great grandfather,Gabriel Bangoy, was the first Cabeza of Davao during the Spanish time in 1853. My grandfather, Ciriaco R. Lizada, was the last American to be appointed by the American Military Government in the 1900s.

Perhaps it is also good to know, as a backgrounder, who were the people of Davao (City) before, during and after the Spanish established its settlement here. Davao was first inhabited by the Bagobos, one of the several tribes in Davao. In the latter part of the 1400s, Islam took its roots when Muslims settled along its coasts. In 1848, the Spaniards established the first settlement in Davao. In the 1900s, the Americans took over the colonization of Davao from the Spaniards.

These are the times, the events and the people that I will dwell on briefly based on the stories and experiences of the first, second, third, and fourth generation members of my family.

Davao At The Tarn Of The Century

All throughout the Spanish occupation, the evangelization of the non-Christian tribes was a major concern of the missionaries and the settlers. From the time of the first settlers to the time of their children evangelization continued.

Vic Generoso, my Spanish teacher, wrote in the 1884 San Pedro Fiesta publication:

“…much help was given the missionary by the old time Christians, notably Aniceto Bustamante, Damaso Suazo, Teodoro Palma Gil,Ciriaco R. Lizada and Calixto Cervantes…”

All of those mentioned were second and third generation members of the first settlers. The term “first settlers” refers to the Christian migrants who came with the Spanish colonizers to Davao at the end of the 19th century to settle and colonize Davao.

My father told us how my grandfather helped the missionary in his work.

They would cross the Bankerohan river in banca, walk up to the end of the road at Matina (Matina Golf Club), turn left towards the shore (Times Beach) and there take a banca and paddle for hours towards Daliao to convert the natives to the new faith; or… go on horseback with Teodoro Palma Gil up the hills of Mandug to be with the natives in their villages to explain Christianity.

They even reached as far as Davao del Sur in Darong together with Fr. Urios. There, in 1894, Datu Timan, a Bagobo datu . and his tribe were baptized. He also told us how other relatives, like his cousin-in-law, Don Francisco Bangoy, assisted the baptism of the datu and his tribe in Tigatto.

The need to evangelize was there, as some natives still practiced human sacrifice secretly. In Toril, where the de la Cruz family decided to stay with their Bagobo friends, the same was true. One day, his Bagobo male friends passed by his house, preceded by a carabao-pulled sled, where a rather big sack was moving. Curiosity prompted him to ask what it was and he was informed that they were going to perform a tribal offering in a nearby forest. Inside the sack a blind boy was tied up and on the way to be sacrificed. Having established good rapport with the datu, my grandfather reminded him that such a practice was now prohibited. He suggested that, instead of sacrificing the blind boy. he be given to him as a gift. This the datu did. The boy became my house helper in Toril up until he was 70 years old. He stayed with us and remained loyal to my uncle !until he died an old man, not knowing who his real relatives were,I not even his father and mother.

The Settlement of the Pioneers

At first, the little Spanish settlement was an attraction to the surrounding natives. Bagobos and other natives came to town, some bringing along teenage boys and girls, offering them to us to work in our homes. Usually, the agreement was consummated with an exchange of dry goods. In my grandfather’s house there were nine of them, working happily, and doing all kinds of jobs such as chopping firewood and running errands.

In many houses there were “ulipon“, which actually meant slave as they were then called. Later they became like members of the family. This was true even in the thirties. One Christmas Eve, while we were waiting for the Midnight Mass, a Bagoba came with two little children begging for a place to stay. Later, she asked to leave her children with us. My aunt accepted the two little girls and they stayed with her until they were grown up and were married. Their mother just visited them once in a while. She continued to stay up in the hills, while her daughters grew up in our household.

Life in the Town

Everybody in the town was self-sufficient. At the back of their homes were vegetables and fruit trees. Out in the front yard were chickens and pigs. In Lanang, grandfather constructed a but on stilts. During high tide, when the but is surrounded by deep waters, they would go by banca and fish inside the but for their meals.

There was not much to buy in the town. There was no I need for a market as everybody already had what the market had to offer. There was just a Chinese store selling dry goods.
There was not much use for money. Land was abundant, food was sufficient, and the vessel that came from Manila came irregularly. In the meantime, money was kept and children played with big coins.

One of the children of Antolin Bangoy (son of Gabriel Bangoy). who was also a cabeza de barangay recalls using big coins toy cooking pans in their game, bahay-bahayan. Up in the mountains, the Mandayas bored holes in them and made them into necklaces and bracelets (up to now the old necklaces are made out of old coins). In grandmother’s house, she kept coins in bamboo nodules, breaking them after a certain time to wash the molds off the big “pesetas” and later dry them under the sun . Then she put them back in to a new bamboo tube.

The Gas Lit Streets

Father remembered the little dusty streets, lit by gas lamps, and the “parolero” who kept track of the position of the mcon to save petrol. On moonless nights he would fill the lamp with gas enough to last until morning. During halfmoons he put enough gas to light the streets until the moon shone fully and lighted them with moonlight. At full moon, he used very little petrol.

Early Education

The early education of the first settlers took place in the convento. It started from grade one. Each year, the situation was improved by adding a book or two. They were all proud to say that even at a lower grade they knew how to read and write and that their morals were grounded on good values.

The First Roads

The first roads were more like trails than streets. In 1905, when grandfather constructed the house at Bolton, Bolton was no more than a pathwalk, two meters wide, with hog wire and beetlepalms on the sides. San Pedro went as far as the present Anda then to Legaspi. Claveria extended up to the present Ideal theater, the place being planted with abaca by the Bangoys. In these little streets, particularly San Pedro, athletic competitions, such as the one hundred meters race, were held. There were no cars then; just horses on the streets.

The Pioneering Days

Truly, these were the days of the real pioneers. It was they who cleared the forests, opened little farms, walked by the beach to Lanang, paddled bancas to Daliao, and rode horses to the hills. It was they who interacted and befriended the natives and developed the Davao dialect, a combination of Visayan and one or two native languages. Dabawenyo, or the Dinabaw dialect, was spoken by the early settlers. It was used by the children of the Spanish colonizers, children of the Bagobos of the hills, and children of the Davao Muslims. (Dinabaw is a Mandaya-based dialect). These people were later referred to as the Dabawenyos, people whose roots were traced to the Davao tribe or members of the families of pioneers.

The Most Important Event of the Century

Aside from the evangelization of the natives, and the organization of the town, the most significant event of the century was the land grants and recognition of land ownership by the Spaniards. Proprietorships led to the development of lands. Thus inspired, people from all over the world decided to come to Dav Spaniards from Spain, Chinese, Japanese, and Americans all came to Davao for lands.

The Cross and the Crescent

At the turn of the century, one of the events remembered most by my parents was the time when there was shooting in the streets, with people running and shouting, as they took refuge :n the convento. This was the time when the Spanish authorities, having lost the Philippines to the U.S., were about to leave and factions were formed to take over the Spanish government of the town. A coalition was attempted but did not last. The chief of the police, together with his wife and a relative, was assassinated by one of his own soldiers. The assassin became the chief but later on was also killed. People were taking the law into their own hands.

Amidst this confusion, Fr. Urios and Fr. Benaiges went out to the streets. holding back those were fighting, and removed the guns from them. Yet the fear of anarchy was there. The fear of a Muslim take over of the town was foremost. However. the letter of Balaguer, written on April 17, 1899, narrated a very important and significant. event of the day:

It was admirable to behold the heads of the towns
of the Moros presenting themselves to Fr. Urios
placing themselves under his orders and telling
him that they did not recognize any other authority
except his, and that if they found themselves
threatened they would be the first ones to defend
us…

This is one moment of time in Davao’s history that should be cherished, remembered and honored for here Muslims and the two priests stood together for peace, thus restoring peace in the Christian town of Davao.

In the 1930s

The coconut trees planted by the early settlers were not bearing fruit. On the other hand, the ranches of the Spaniards were thriving well and so were the 55 American owned abaca plantations. The abaca lands of the migrants and the Bagobos were all stripable and productive. The coming of Japanese investors contributed to the progress of Davao in the thirties. Compared to the 1900s, Davao in the 30s was a far cry from the little town of the 1850s, yet it retained its provincial and rural air.

On The Street Where We Lived

The once little trail that was Bolton now had residences with gardens in front, and flower hedges all around, while others still had the old trees of the 1900s. At the back of our house remained three huge acacia trees, a thick bamboo grove, and some banana plants. On some days, the Bagobos still walked the street in single file, children, women, the men and the Datu.

Later. at sunset, swarms of black feathered red-eyed birds (Lansilang) swooped down to roost on the big mango tree on the yard of the Hizon residence at the corner of Bolton and Rizal Streets. Up in the sky, thousands of bats came from Samal Island in seemingly endless hordes. Some flew low to roost in the kapok tree on the street while others continued their flight to the hills.

At six in the evening the church bells rang the Angelus. The few people on the street stopped to pray. Children in Bolton were nowhere to be found as we were all trained to be home before six to join the family in prayer. At nine in the evening the street was almost deserted. Neighborhood dogs lingered and lay on the street. People walking by carried “bastones” (canes) to ward off the dogs which had the habit of sniffing pedestrians. In the mornings the chimneys from a few houses emitted white smoke as breakfast was cooked with firewood. All houses had water tanks. to catch the rainfall for drinking.

The Social Classes of the Thirties

People in the town were identifiable by the way they dressed:

a. People wearing coats and ties were either professionals or people engaged in white collar jobs.

b. People wearing maongs or denims were laborers as maong was used by “hag-uteros”, that is, abaca fiber strippers.

c. People wearing rubber shoes belonged to the lower income bracket, as people in the upper income level always wore leather shoes.

d. People sporting two holstered revolvers with bullet belts strapped around their waist were out of town visiting landowners.

e. People wearing buri hats were tenants, as land owners wore fedora hats.

f. Women wearing kimonas in the markets were Tagalas.

g. Women wearing wrapped around patadyong were most likely Muslims.

The Progressive Little Town

Mr. Ernesto Corcino, a friend and historian, wrote in “Davao History: An Overview” (Region XI Historical Convention, Sept. 17-18 1993):

…large quantities of products for export brought
Davao into the arena of foreign trade; engines
and vehicles were introduced, roads opened up
and large stores of varying commodities were
established as Filipino migrants began to increase…

Outside Davao (Toril), the transportation was provided mostly by calesas pulled by different colored horses. In the city, old model Ford cars provided transportation, picking up passengers and delivering them to their doorsteps, in addition to the lone yellow-painted busline (Dabusco) that plied the San Pedro-Sta. Ana route. While before, Bagobos came to town on horses, it was now a common sight to see Bagobos, in their native ,mire, hiring cars and going around the city at leisure. The biggest bill at this time was the twenty peso (P20.00) bill on which Mt. Mayon was printed and people, kidding each other, would say, “de-bulkan ang kuarta niyan“, meaning one was rich and had plenty of money.

The two main shopping areas were San Pedro Street and Sta. Ana. San Pedro was an upper class shopping area. Here were bazaars owned by Bombays. Indians from Bombay, ( Utomal), Syrians and Lebanese (Borgailys) could be found selling items from perfumes to textiles to horse saddles. The Chinese restaurants were Kwong Lee and Asia, and the Chinese tailoring shops were Chiew Ning and Centro de Modas. The Macau Chinese were famous tailors while the Cantonese were famous for their cuisine.

There were a few Batangueno stores with peddlers selling kulambo (mosquito nets)and other Filipino stores (Amigleos). A Manila Branch, German-owned gun store sold double-barreled shotguns, a favorite of the farmers and the natives.

There were also Japanese establishments: A restaurant called Mikasa. A Hotel, Kashiwara, Bazaar Takeuchi, and the biggest Osaka bazaar, selling all Japanese goods whose quality was looked down upon.

There were Japanese barbershops where pictures of different haircuts were hanged on the wall and the customer was given a stick, to point at the desired haircut to be done. Some barbershops had Japanese women barbers. Japanese food parlors specialized in “Mongo con hielo” and Japanese “Manjo“. Near Legazpi was a theater called the Liberty where, outside . at night, vendors sold durian at twenty centavos. Lanzones were sold not by the kilo but by containers called bagta.

The other commercial area was Sta. Ana. The wholesale stores there were then considered far from the town. Drivers picking up passengers in Sta. Ana would cry out “Dabaw, Dabaw” for San Pedro-bound passengers.

Between San Pedro and Sta. Ana was a stretch of nipa-, covered swamps from the shores at Boulevard to the Sta. Ana Elementary School up to the vicinity of San Pedro hospital. Here mangrove trees grew and Davao residents cut their Christmas trees from these areas. Christmas trees were made by wrapping their branches with green crepe papers. At Uyanguren Street, near the swamps, mangrove crabs could be seen crossing the street.

The Market

The market near the PLDT-Aldevinco-BoyScout building under acacia trees was a center of daily interaction, particularly between the Visayans (mostly from Cebu) and the Tagalogs (mostly from Cavite).

Here the Visayans learned Tagalog and Tagalogs learned Visayan from actual practice. With both Visayans and Tagalogs not speaking correctly, many hilarious incidents occured:

a. A Cebuano buying “siopao” wanted to know what was inside the dough “pork or chicken”and asked “Ano ang ilalim nito” ? and the Tagalog answered “papel”

b. A maid was sent to market for the first time to buy one kilo of “matambaca” and came back with two “eye balls” of a cow, apologizing for having bought only two because “wala na talaga”

c . A Tagalog tindera was surprised when a Visayan wanted to buy fifty centavos of “panakut” (literal meaning, something frightful).

d. A Visayan maid in a Dabawenyo home was bewildered when told to “Kamanga ang baso“. Kamang in Dabaw is “get” and in Visayan “crawl“.

These hilarious incidents of Visayans and Tagalogs crossbreeding Visayan and Tagalog words like as pagumangkin and inimin gave birth to the pre-war Davao phrase “Tagalog sa Mat:” when referring to a non-Tagalog speaking wrong Filipino.

The Bagobos in Guianga

Seventeen kilometers away from the City is Tugbok, the seat of government of the Guianga district. It is here where my father, as Deputy Mayor, held daily office.

During vacation time I rode with him to his office and stayed there the whole day. Here I had my first contact with the Bagobos, whose children later became my friends. They came to seek my father’s advice and mostly to register their newly born children. It was only then that I knew that many of them at that time still did not have a family name.

A couple came to register their new-born child and when asked for the name they said “Landigan” (somehow the term “Salading” is associated with a clothesline that snapped at the time the baby was being born) and when asked for “appeledo” (family name) they said “Bagobo”. My father explained to the couple the necessity of having a family name and suggested that the father’s name from then on would be the family name. The father’s name was Llawan so the child became Ladingan Llawan.

Remembering that incident helped us understand why our old Bagobo friends called and shouted at my father from a distance with greetings of “Lizada! Kamusta Kaw?”.

Education

My parents were brought up under the Spanish system of education in which foremost of all is “respect for the elders”. We were never allowed to answer back when reprimanded. We were always told to “listen to your parents”. Now psychologists and educators tell us always to listen to our children.

When visitors arrived we were all told to go to our room and not to go out to the sala for that would be an intrusion into adult conversation. Offenses were penalized by making us kneel at the altar for a few minutes.

In school, the same was true. We were told to kneel in from of the class but with a variation. This time we knelt with outstretched arms and at times with a book on each palm.

At school, the bell was rung twice. The first was the warning bell before forming the line. The second bell was for lining up. When the first bell was rung (warning bell), wherever the student was and whatever he was doing, he had to stop. All froze’ until the second bell was rung.

The Outskirts of the Town

Beyond San Roque was the sparsely inhabited area of Bajada. It was composed of rolling open hills of cogon where stood a tall molave tree. the favorite resting place of the wild doves (balud). The Cabaguio or Jereza Subdivision was a field of grass and trees. Across from the Regional Hospital was the building of the military trainees, a military training camp.’ In front of the present Carmelite Convent (Lanang Golf and Country Club) was the small ranch and coconut farm of the Roscoms.

At kilometer seven (Alcantara and Beach Club) was our farm. ‘Here there were patches of second growth forests where monkeys and wild chicken could be found. Blue and white kingfishers, yellow and black orioles, grey and brown wild doves, woodpeckers, black crows and hawks. During moonless nights we would go through the farmlands to the sea, bringing lighted torches made out of bundled dried coconut leaves, to catch fish and crabs and to pick up shellfish from the ebbing tide waters. Between the Insular Hotel and the farm was a stream shaded by mangrove trees, a spawning ground of many fish.

Landlord and Tenants

Land was abundant in Davao. My aunt returned to the government forty hectares of land in Tuganay, which she could not attend to. It is now a prosperous fishpond. Marapangi was where grandfather gave several hectares of his land to tenants. Farmowners and tenants came from the extended families of many landowners. The “Engkargado” or farm caretaker represented the owner in the farm. He was his extension.

During fiestas, relatives were invited to the farm. Invitations involved the father, mother, children and yayas. Here we met uncles, aunties, cousins and yayas. Cooking was done outside the house by the families of the tenants whose whole families were also present. There was non-stop cooking. They cooked as the guests arrived and guests came for the whole day. However, I noticed that many didn’t stay long. They came, ate and went away. I found out later that the culture of the time (the custumbre or ugali) was to visit all the relatives in the area whenever you were around. You may not have been invited but you were expected to visit. This practice is still true in some other areas. In the 1960s we resided in Toril and and during one of the fiestas we cooked one half sack of rice for relatives and friends who dropped by to say “hello”.

The Japanese in Davao

Dr. Serafin Quiason, in his article “The Japanese Colony n Davao” (Historical Convention in Davao 1993), wrote:

The Japanese colony in Davao, is the first colony
that the Japanese developed in South East Asia.
This is the only one in South East Asia which the
Japanese settled and developed and it was here
in Davao.

A Japanese report in 1934 stated that Japanese corporations held about 25,086 hectares of agricultural land; :9,072 of which were leased by private individuals. One of these leased lands was that of my grandfather in Marapangi. Others belonged to our relatives in Daliao, Toril, Bangkal Heights and Mulig. Japanese farmers were highly industrious, innovative; and dedicated to the farm. Their farmhouses were like their homes in Japan, low and unpainted, built in the middle of an abaca field away from the road, surrounded with gardens of flowery. and fruit trees and, whenever possible, near a river. Near their homes was a vegetable garden tilled by the wife who pickled the excess harvest and kept it in stock. Near the kitchen, out in the yard, was a barrel cut in half sitting on a low concrete and with firewood underneath, ready to heat the water for the daily afternoon bath.

Accustomed to the concept of a “neighborhood association”, they saw to it that they were always within the reach of other Japanese farmers and homes. In areas where they were separated by a river, they put up hanging bridges using cables and wooden planks for an aerial pathwalk. thus assuring them of ready access to their homes. Dr. Josefa of the of the UP Asian Studies wrote in her paper on the Japanese in the Philippines:

It is of common belief that Japanese plantations
are so linked with each other as to facilitate not
only close common communication but quick
concentration of Japanese subjects upon a
moment’s notice…

In Japanese farms, Japanese tradition was observed. In my grandfather’s farm, Japanese women wore kimonos and working clothes, tilling the garden with their infant strapped to their back sleeping soundly. Japanese tenants hired Filipino laborers and worked with them. Japanese discipline and orderliness were followed at the work site. The Japanese and and the laborers started their work at the sound of the bell. Rest at ten in the morning was also announced by the bell as well as the time to smoke, drink or eat. Resumption of work was also signalled by the bell.

Farmers came to town only when necessary, like when giving the landlords their share of the sale of the abaca hemp, buying supplies at Japanese cooperative stores, or visiting the headquarters of the Japanese Associations for news from home. Not only did they keep Japanese traditions but they also kept Japanese dogs on their farms.

Japanese records show that in 1939 there were 17,000 Japanese residents in Davao. The well-planned community life was shown by the Japanese daily publications, Japanese radio programs, the presence of Shinto and Buddhist temples, Japanese cooperatives, and the strong Japanese Association.

Mintal, in the Guianga district, looked like a small Japanese town. Japanese residents dominated the town. Japanese stores lined the street while a big Japanese hospital. amicst pine trees, stood in front of the huge campus of the Japanese school. In the nearby places were irrigated Japanese plantations. The town was clean and well kept. Japanese school boys wore red caps, and girls dressed in blue and white.

Gloria Dabbay, in her book. Davao City: its History and Progress; quoted President Manuel Quezon, who observed that,

…The Japanese have developed these lands that
were undeveloped before. They have taught us
how to have modern plantations. If the Filipinos
should take advantage of what we can learn from
what the Japanese are doing here, the coming of
Japanese to Davao. instead of being evil, would
be a blessing…

Yet W. J. Anderson, in his book entitled The Philippine Problem pictured Davao as a part of the Philippine territory which the Japanese”… are running practically as an independent state.”

Conclusion: The Changing Images of Davao

Davao grew from a primitive wild land of the pre-Spanish times to the object of land grants made by the Spaniards to interested settlers, to the beneficiaries of infrastructures developed by the Americans. All of these contributed to the sustained growth of Davao. Davao was a little city in the thirties but worth looking at as a model today in the nineties.

The city has been able to cope well with the process of growth. Bolton and other streets had deep canals serving as drainage for the almost nightly rain. Many “dalag” were found in the canals, which is the reason why Dabawenyos did not have a very great liking for them. The sanitary inspector made his round everyday, looking at the surroundings and calling the attention of residents to garbage in their yards.

The garbage trucks never missed their nightly rounds for collecting garbage. Policemen with clubs patroled the streets day and night. Water trucks went around the dusty roads sprinkling water, on them. A vehicle equipped with a fumigating machine went around fumigating stagnant waters, which were the breeding places for mosquitos and other insects. Regular health nurses visited schools to vaccinate children and immunize them from diseases.

Outside the city, along the roads to nearby districts, were camineros dressed in red, cutting the grass and cleaning their designated areas of the road everyday. The caminero never left his post.

The parks beside the Sanguniang Panglunsod were immaculately clean. Their benches were painted white and they had well maintained swings and see-saws, well trimmed hedges, and flowers. They were well lighted.

There were no car watchers and no street vendors. Very seldom did we see out-of-school children.

The constabulary, the policemen, and the Sanitary Inspector were looked up to with respect. People were aware of the rule of law. Even bicycle riders traveled at night with lighted flashlights, as required, and did not allow back riders since they were prohibited.

The many gifts of nature like the little streams at Jacinto, Ateneo, Uyanguren and at the back of Claveria; at Sasa, Belisario, Talomo, and Agdao were left undisturbed, allowing them to empty their waters into the sea. Almost all these are now covered and converted to subdivision lots.

Today, however, the many mangroves by the shores of the city, where fish used to spawn are now industrial places where factories one disposing their wastes into the sea.

The once peaceful and clean beaches of the thirties are now full of socially uncaring people, living in unsanitary conditions. Beaches are now converted into deplorable slums.

The forests of the thirties that gave Davao its evening rain, treat provided it with its cool breeze, and that sheltered many kinds of birds are now bald fields exposed to the sun. All the God-given gifts of nature existing then in the thirties were, in a wink of an eye, destroyed in the early fifties.

Davao in the thirties is now but a memory. The little town is now a big city. “Perhaps we should ask ourselves”what price was paid for its development” and “what are the choices of having another Davao-of-the-thirties in the future?”

Culture Change and Adaptation of the Manobo and Bagobo of Mount Apo National Park

Introduction

This is a descriptive ethnographic study of culture change and adaptation of the Manobo and Bagobo of Mt. Apo National Park. The Manobo and Bagobo exist in a local milieu which is dominated by the lowland settlers. The relocatees do not command political and economic powers because of their simple agricultural technology, kin based social organization and position as indigenous tribes.

The natives of Mount Apo subsisted in the past on swidden agriculture, hunting and gathering of wild plants and animals. Today, they are engaged in cash crop production, though they still subsist in swidden agriculture.

Due to the NPA attack against a military patrol base on the project site on June 2, 1992, the native families transferred to the Relocation Site in advance. Temporary shelters were provided by the PNOC. They were followed by six resident families. At the time of the attack, the relocation package deal had not yet been approved by the affected Manobo and Bagobo families.

The Census of 1990 shows that there are an estimated 6,278 Manobo and 1,226 Bagobo covering the three towns of Kidapawan, Magpet and Makilala of North Cotabato.

The research study was undertaken in a settlement of 21 families at the Relocation Site, Agco, in the barrio of Ilomavis, Kidapawan, North Cotabato. They are refugees from their homeland, due to their being displaced because of the Mindanao Geothermal Project.

This ethnographic study of the Manobo and Bagobo of Mt. Apo National Park undertook a baseline characterization of the cultural, economic, social, political and resource management system of the indigenous communities within and around Mt. Apo National Park; made assessments of the level of the socio-economic and cultural development of the cultural communities or indigenous tribes vis-à-vis the mainstream ethnolinguistic groups; and identified and recommended social intervention for the development of these peoples.

The installation of the Geothermal Project in the national park in Mt. Apo is a classic example of culture change and adaptation for indigenous tribes, such as the Manobo and Bagobo tribal groups. It is also an experience of displacement from their ancestral home and, at the same time, of how they have become adapted to new technologies. But there is an apparent danger to their traditional culture. It may result to assimilation of the Manobo and Bagobo cultures into the dominant lowland culture. It could be immensely valuable to researchers of the culture change and adaptation among tribal groups in the Philippines, this being a baseline study.

The ethnographer, with a research assistant, lived at the Relocation Site for a period of six months to facilitate the observation of their way of life and the gathering of the necessary data and information for the said duty. Likewise, the researcher made courtesy calls on the barrio captain and other local officials of Ilomavis and the Project Director of the PNOC Base Camp. Observations were made on important aspects of their life to find out how they have become adapted to the changes surrounding them. The major method was participant observation to gain a wholistic view of the Manobo and Bagobo community of Mt. Apo. Informal conversation was also made with the children, young people and old folks to obtain vital information to support the ethnographic study.

Key informants were utilized to provide relevant information on certain specific issues significant to the research study. They were native informants who truly spoke for themselves and were wholly acquainted with Mt. Apo and its environment.

Interviews of the PNOC staff and other important personalities were likewise employed in order to provide points of reconciliation on some important issues and discrepancies. Interviews were conducted among the Manobo and Bagobo women to ascertain the changing role of the women in their society.

In addition, photographic records of important events were obtained thru camera and video to ensure proper documentation of the said events. Maps of important sites were used to have tangible evidence of existing vital features of the study.

The Findings of the Study

The Manobo and Bagobo have been shifting cultivators for centuries. Mt. Apo is their ancestral home where they have lived in freedom, hunting and gathering wild plants and animals. Exchange of foods, crops, rice and other things is a tradition lived by’ the natives of Mt. Apo. They are also engaged in barter and trade with neighboring tribes.

Today, they are living in a non-traditionally clustered settlement. Plow agriculture. however, has not replaced their swidden cultivation of the kaingin. But they are engaged in cash crop production through gardening vegetables, especially cabbage, which they sell in the market. Unfortunately, the gardening system of the natives gave rise to dependency on the financier/comprador who shoulders the expenses for fertilizers. chemical, insecticides and pesticides. Though they share equally in the profit, the price set by the financier/comprador is lower than the market price. The native farmers can borrow money or credit goods from the financier.

The leadership of the tribal chieftain or datu must now give way to relations with lowlanders. They are now within the control of the local government. At the Relocation Site, two forms of control exist, namely, the traditional rule of the tribal chieftain and the local government. The natives of Mount Apo have gradually set aside their customary laws to give way to laws and other demands from the local government. Likewise, there is evident change in the role of Manobo and Bagobo women. They have assumed responsibilities which are new to them. The traditional social structures have been significantly and profoundly changed. However, the increasing poverty of the natives is miserably felt at the Relocation Site. Living with lowlanders has failed to economically uplift the condition of the Manobo and the Bagobo community. Consequently, thanksgiving rituals are no longer faithfully observed by them because they are quite costly. They have developed a pessimistic outlook due to their increasing poverty in re2tion to the lowlanders surrounding them.

The Manobo and the Bagobo communities face the possibility of a changing identity due to their being relocated in a lowland atmosphere. Conflict among them or with the dominant lowland population may evolve. There is also a growing emphasis on gambling and drinking which is a predominant influence on the natives.

New relationships exist between the natives and the westernized lowland settlers, as well as with development agents and the government. They are dominated by them. Furthermore, the relocatees are politically incorporated into the national body politi.que. Their pre-capitalist substinence economy is now transformed into cash crop production for market sale purposes.

On the religious aspect, the Church of Christ and Alliance groups have injected social changes, a few of which may not be culturally meaningful for the natives. Existing social organizations for the common good of the tribal communities and an NGO are not strongly felt by the relocatees. In addition, these religious changes felt by the natives may bring about assimilation to the dominant lowland culture. This is seen, for example in the obligation of natives to undergo a civil marriage in order to get the certificate needed by the children for school purposes. Thus, the Manobo wedding will gradually disappear.

The relocated natives were promised a priority of work according to the Memorandum of Agreement. But the relocatees are questioning why they have not become regular workers. Their contention is that it is due to their being natives. They made some remarks that it is easier for an Ilokano or a Visayan to be regularized than a native. They further added that they have been contractual workers. Even if the explanations are given it would be difficult for them to be regularized yet their contention prevails.

Maybe the PNOC could sponsor a training program for the indigenous tribes of Mt. Apo to improve their ability of work rather than for the natives to do it in secret.

There are four contractual workers at the Relocation Site and the rest are work -order workers. If an accident happens, they have no privilege like Medicare so they have to personally shoulder the hospital expenses. If, somehow, they can enjoy the privilege of Medicare, a lecture ought to be given to them to explain how the system works. The ethnographer is often consulted about SSS and how to process the Medicare.

However, when a program is planned for the natives, it ought to be adapted on their own setting because they differ from the westernized thinking of the lowland population.

The natives could be developed technically. They ought not to remain backward.

The main task of the government or any social organization is to promote for the common good of the members.

Within the period of six months living at the Relocation site, the writer discovered very significant changes in the life of the, Manobo and Bagobo of Mt. Apo. The indigenous tribes of M t. Apo were dislocated and are now resettled in a region where they have more interaction with the westernized lowland population. Because of their relocation the natives have given up their kaingin. However, as agreed upon by the affected families will be relocated. As of the completion of the ethnographic study, however, the relocatees have not yet received the land.

The absence of land has greatly affected the natives of Mt . Apo. If they have no work, farming the land can provide them with food in terms of rootcrops, corn and vegetables. There are as lut-ya or carlang. Cabbage is even cooked to sustain their hunger.

According to Philip Boeck, hunger, which indicates absence of support, solidarity and aid, is linked to egoism and withdrawal. The majority of the relocatees are in favor of the Geothermal Project. This proven by a survey conducted at the Relocation Site and those living at Anggue, Sudsuhayan and Sayaban. They voluntarily gave up their claim. Therefore, the indigenous tribes are also entitled for support and aid. Social services such as health, sanitation, education, youth program, home for the aged and others are some of the services to be intensified.

The indigenous tribes need social services since they are the forgotten people of the land. The rural areas are often at the tail end of any development program. Projects are more widespread in urban areas than in the rural areas. It is the prime responsibility of the so-called Christians to look after the common good of the cultural communities.

The aged are unattended and children have no chance for education because of poverty. One of the vital services needed by the natives is education. Anton Postma, in his work with the Mangyan of Mindoro, was guided by the principle that education is the first step towards development and integration. However, it must contain a different curriculum based on their culture, history and felt needs as indigenous tribes to enable them to acquire basic knowledge and skills for communication that would allow them to stand on equal footing with the lowland society: At the Relocation Site, the children have difficulty in going to school because of distance.

During rainy days they are absent since a good number of drivers do not allow them to ride in the service. Perhaps a school bus could be provided by PNOC so that children could avail themselves of the opportunity to be educated.

‘There is no a big problem for health because it is taken care by the Medical Officer at Base Camp. Many of the relocatees suffer from sickness, malnutrition and lack of medicine. The TB Control Program provides the relocatees with examination and X-Ray. But a good number of relocatees are not faithful in taking the medicine. They hide the tablets and capsules and continue to smoke and drink. However, with regard to eye and dental problems, a special medical program, could be arranged for the relocated, consisting of free consultation, medical, dental and eye examination.

The common ailments at the Relocation Site are fever. cold, cough, and diarrhea. An on-going orientation program might be given to the parents regarding health, nutrition and sanitation in coordination with the Bureau of Health. The natives ought to understand the value of cleanliness, beautification and sanitation, especially since Mt. Apo is a tourist spot.

The Geothermal Projects of PNOC are not always found in regions where there are cultural communities. The Mindanao Geothermal Project of PNOC is a special case. It is the home of the Manobo and Bagobo tribes. It requires a special kind of development, where top priority is given the indigenous communities. The development program ought to respond to the needs, hopes and aspirations of the cultural tribes. The natives must be involved in the formulation of program objectives so that it can truly be a development program of their own. A minority culture might be able to adapt creatively to a situation of dependency under the guidance of non-government organizations. Unfortunately, the NGO’s of Mt. Apo are not visibly felt by the ordinary natives. PNOC and the NC Os should strive to develop their self-reliance and independence. Ultimately, they should be able to stand on their own.

The indigenous tribes of Mt. Apo have become dependent on PNOC . They are not skilled workers. The supervisors ought to be on the look out for natives who show ink rest in their work. They can then initiate a training program to help those natives learn more about their work. Consequently, this will encourage and uplift the Manobo and Bagobo to become skillful in the job assigned to them.

The survey showed that a good number of the relocatees have no knowledge of the program of OSCC. Within a period of six months, the Provincial Director of OSCC has only visited the Relocation Site once.

The NGOs created at Mt. Apo ought to monitor the cultural, educational and livelihood programs for the natives. Consultations is a vital factor. Often times the natives are left out in the discussion and planning of projects. The officials think for the natives; the natives do not think for themselves. As a consequence, the natives do not actively participate during meetings.

The seven native women involved in the loom weaving project sponsored by the Mt. Apo Foundation(MAFI), and NGO are discouraged because of conflicts and difficulties. There is an utmost need for the head of the office to make visitations of the Site to know their problems.

The scholarship program is not widespread. There is only one college student at the Relocation Site who is a scholar. Five High School students graduated this year. They have difficulty in continuing their studies because of poverty. They are interested in the MAFI scholarship program but they do not know the process involved. Perhaps an orientation could be given to the young people at the Relocation Site.

The Beliefs of the Manobos of Maguling

Maguling, one of the farthest barangays of the Munipality of Maitum, province of South Cotabato was the area of this study. This barangay is fourteen kilometers away from the poblacion and is accessible by land and water transportation. It is composed of nine sitios namely Sebeng, Mondan, Matolan, Takal, Fenayong, Tungeon, Lihik, Luan and Batel. The Manobos occupy the first seven sitios while the Christians and Muslims occupy Luan and Batel respectively.

The origin of the name Maguling may be traced back to the name of the big trees which grew abundantly in the place when it was still uncultivated. The first occupants of the place, the Muslims and the Manobos, called the said trees, Maguling. Maguling trees have pointed leaves about 7-8 inches long and 4 inches wide. They make good firewod for, even when newly-cut they burn long and brightly.

The boundaries of barangay Maguling are the Luan river on the east, barangay Pinol on the west, the
Celebes Sea on the South and barangay Ticulab on the north.

Maguling is inhabited predominantly by Ilocanos for whom farming is the chief means of livelihood. Other ethnic groups which reside in this barangay include the Ilonggos, Cebuanos, Maguindanaoans, Joloanos and Sangils. The cultural groups do menial jobs for the landed Ilocanos for their living. Some, like the Muslims who live near the sea, engage in fishing while other tribal groups, like the Manobos, plant corn and other root crops.

Maitum was formerly a part of the municipality of Kiamba. In 1928, homesteaders streamed into the place. During this time, Maitum was a virgin hinterland plagued by malaria. Nevertheless, migrants continued to settle in Maitum. Eventually, the people led by Francisco Gacal petitioned for an independent and separated municipality. By virtue of Republic Act No. 2189 enacted on May 7, 1959, the municipality of Maitum was created.

Beliefs About Marriage

The location of a sunem (mole on a Manobo woman’s body plays a vital role in determining her future, i.e., whether she will live in poverty and misery, or be rich and live happily. One of the reasons why a Manobo male is heavily indebted to others until he dies is the dowry that he gives to the woman he marries.

Having seen signs of good luck, as in the presence of a mole, a Manobo male will no longer work hard to earn a living for his family, for he firmly believes something good awaits his family. This is one reason why a Manobo man will carefully look for a woman with sunem in lucky places in the body, no matter what the circumstances may be.

Manobo society recognizes polygamous marriages. Any Manobo male with sufficient wealth to pay for the bride all at one time or by installment, may have more than one wife. While the Manobos practice polygamy, they cling to and practice the following beliefs on marriages gathered from them through oral testimonies.

The Manobo belief that going out of the house before the wedding day will make one sick means that the betrothed couple must stay inside the house most of the time. The woman is not to help in weeding the rice and cornfields. She is only allowed to do ordinary household chores such as cooking, washing dishes and occasionally cleaning the house. This practice makes the Manobos idle. From early in the morning till late in the afternoon, the betrothed Manobo male or female simply sleeps or plays cards.

Agadong bulan (full moon) is always the best time for marriage to take place. The size of the moon and its round shape signify good health for the prospective couple’s future children. The Manobos believe that wedding rites and rituals should be done very early in the morning (magtosimag) so that the couple will always understand each other and will seldom quarrel. This is related to the fact that early in the morning, atmosphere is still cool and refreshing hence, the newly-married couple will tend to have “cool heads”. If wedding rites are performed at kabusang (noon time), the couple will always quarrel. They believe this is so because the sun’s heat at noontime will make the couple hot-tempered.

The wedding day is postponed if there is udan lafos (heavy rain), fumulow (reddish sky in the afternoon), inog (earthquake), nilafay kayo (fallen tree), mifasa binangga (broken pot), and dumo agogfa (death in the neighborhood). To them, rain signifies tears so that a scheduled wedding day should be postponed if rain falls. The reddish color of the sky means sickness to the Manobos as this color suggests boldness and war. Earthquake means that a deity holding the universe got mad, hence the movement. So, the couple will get sick if they go on with the scheduled wedding because the wrath of the god will be upon them. A big fallen tree is a sign of bad luck for it stands for the groom a she is the stronger sex while a small tree that falls stands for the woman as she is smaller and weaker. A broken pot means that the prospective bride and groom will separate.

The Manobo wedding rites and rituals, no matter how simple they may be, entail significant expenses since the groom’s parents have to prepare a feast to entertain visitors. The postponement of it due to the occurrence of rain, earthquake, reddish sky, fall tree, broken pot, or death in the neighborhood would therefore mean many more expenses on the groom’s part since he would have to prepare the same things all over again. It is because of this that the Manobos would at times resort to carabao-rustling or stealing to meet wedding expenses. The rampant carabao-rustling and hold-ups in Maguling have been attributed to Manobos.

On Conception and Pregnancy

The conceiving or pregnant Manobo woman does not sleep during the day for fear that the placenta will stick to the uterus and she will have a difficult delivery. This because when one sleeps, one’s body seems to be glued to the floor or be. Cassava tubers which have not uniformly developed and in which the middle part has bulged may result to difficult delivery; therefore these should not be eaten by pregnant women. It is believed bad for Manobo women to be sitting or tarrying on stairs or in doorways because the baby will also tarry during childbirth. Rubbing things, like the first egg of hen or leaves wet with dewdrops, on the belly of a pregnant woman insures easy delivery. Eggs and stones roll; so when they are rubbed on the belly of a pregnant Manobo woman, this is taken to mean that the baby inside the womb will also be induced to roll or move smoothly during childbirth. The dewdrops on leaves signify lubrication, or again, an easy childbirth.

Rain, according to the Manobos are tears from God, so that if a pregnant woman gets wet with it, the baby inside the womb will get sick. The spider has a sticky saliva. If a pregnant woman happens to touch one she will have a difficult delivery as the baby will stick to the uterus during childbirth. A black fish signifies death, therefore a pregnant woman should not eat it as she and her baby will die. The Manobos believe that contract with a deer causes harelip because deers have cloven feet so pregnant women should not eat venison. A pregnant Manobo woman is not allowed to lie down on her back, for this will cause her to bear twins. The Manobos believe that there is a force inside the pregnant woman’s womb which could divide the baby into two. So pregnant women always have to lie down on their sides to prevent its occurrence. Because of the many beliefs of Manobos about pregnancy, pregnant women do not undergo prenatal check-up which accounts for the high mortality rate among them.

A Manobo husband with a pregnant wife is not allowed to cut trees for building a home. For them, the trees signifies life, therefore cutting it down will bring a curse. (Husbands of expectant mothers tend to be idle as building a house is taboo for them. They just stay with their in-laws or with relatives and be dependent on them.)

Childbirth

The umbilical cord of a newborn child determines its future. It is in the umbilical cord that life begins therefore the Manobos give meaning to its position and appearance. The Manobos believe that venison, tuna fish, eggs, bongolan (a banana specie), salmon, and eel contain powerful substances which can cause a relapse if eaten by a mother who has just given birth. On the other hand, the monkey’s meat is good for the mother who has just given birth because the female monkey recovers strength immediately after it has given birth.

When drunk, the water which dripped from the hair of Manobo woman after her first bath is believed to stop bleeding because it is considered sacred. The placenta of a newborn baby is to be buried where rain falls heavily. During heavy rains the buried placenta is released by the doft earth. This is like releasing the spirit of the child so that it will always be near its parents.

Death and Burial

When a Manobo who has killed someone dies, a bolo is place in his coffin so that he will have a weapon to defend himself when he meets the person he killed in baya (heaven). This implies that the physical body will still be present after death.

During a vigil for a dead person, kasila, (red pepper) timos (salt) and a bottle of water are carried by persons when they want to leave the house where the dead is lying in state because they believe that the busaw (evil spirits) is afraid of these.

Small pieces of mirror are placed in the coffins of Manobos to drive away busaw (evil spirits). Mirrors reflect light. The Manobos believe that the busaw, follower of Satan who walks in darkness, is afraid of the light which is reflected by the mirror. Rice is scattered right after the burial to prevent blagblags (nightmare). To the Manobos, rice serves as a magic charm that prevents nightmare. Placing the kalowen (stoven) at the door after coming from the burial grounds pervents the occurence of another death in that house. The Manobos believe that the stove is the “heart of the house “, where food is cooked; therefore, when placed at the door, it would prevent death. The Manobos also believe that there is life after death but they are not certain as to where one’s soul goes after death.

They recognize a myriad of other spirits whose influence controls every aspect of their society. Serious illness is a state one gets into due to a broken taboo or to the desire of the spirit or soul of an ancestor to communicate a need to a living person. The Manobos have a group of religious specialists called baylan. The function of the baylan is to communicate with the unseen world by means of a familiar spirit in order to interpret the message intended. Animal sacrifice is the usual remedy for a serious illness as well as the means for obtaining favors from the gods, such as for planting and marriage.

Work Ethic

The practice of stretching oneself (agfangalag) very early in the morning shows that Manobos are aware that a person should be physically conditioned in order to be fit of a tikos (vine) around the knees of a child to make him sturdy on his first visit to a relative’s house is supposed to enable him to do hard work later in life. The Manobos believe that going out of the house immediately after waking up in the morning makes one industrious while failure to go out of the house makes one lazy. This belief is the counterpart of the saying “early birds catch the worms”. This suggests that the Manobos are also aware that an industrious man is time conscious.

Sowing and Harvest

The Manobos have a way of determining a fertile ground for planting corn and palay. They choose a site with many earthworm wastes and black soil. Having found one, they will start clearing it by cutting down big and small trees. The Manobos wait for the trees to dry before they are burned. This takes about two weeks. After they have been thoroughly burned, the site is readied for planting.

During the planting, all the Manobos in the community are present to help, as they deem it a responsibility to bear one another’s burden. Before planting, an offering in the form of mama, composed of betel nut (buyo), betel leaves (kawed) and tobacco leaf is placed on a high pole at the planting site as offering to the god of the harvest.

Planting for the Manobos is fun. They do it in pairs. The Manobo man digs holes while standing using a long round piece of pointed wood while the female partner places about 3-4 grains of corn in the hole. If it is palay that it is being planted, about 10-12 grains are placed in a hole. The pair who finishes their given parts first teases the slow ones who are left behind. There is shouting and boisterous laughter while this scene is taking place. In selecting ears of corn for planting, the Manobos select those with straight grains. As for the palay, they see to it that no chaff is mixed with the grains. The palay seedlings are preserved in containers made of barks of big trees whose ends have been sewed together.

Harvesting palay among the Manobos is a time of festivity as Manobos near and far gather to help one another, staying together until the work is over. After the harvest, only the palay for next year’s seedling is left, because much of the harvest is allocate for the food of those who helped, so that little is left to the owner. This is one reason why there are no rich Manobos as they share what they have to others, especially food.

The Manobos believe that the physical aspects of the environment, as well as the weather, are controlled by the spirits. They believe that rains will fall after the planting of palay because they think that it is sent by the god of agriculture. Signs in the sky like arrow-like clouds, dark clouds and reddish sky are all interpreted by Manobos as bringing rains, earthquake or drought respectively. They believe that a powerful spirit its present in an earthquake which explains why they have to waken all those who are sleeping and stand up to give reverence to that spirit.

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