Chapter 1 Topic 3: General Profile & Major Groups of IPs in the Philippines

Nominal Duration: 4.5 hours

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this topic, the student must be able to:
1. describe the general profile of IPs in the Philippines;
2. identify the major groups of IPs; and
3. identify and describe the different IPs in Region 2.

Introduction

The Philippines has a total land area of 30 Million Hectares. Half of the
country is hilly and mostly categorized as a Forest Zone and part of the Public
Domain. As of the year 2005, the country has a
population of 85 Million. There are 112 ethno-linguistic
groups in the country who comprise nearly 15% of the
total population of the country.

The Philippines is slowly losing its forest cover

and has to cope with an influx of mining activities in the
uplands.1 Furthermore, demand for land and natural
resources continue to rise with the unabated migration of
lowland families into the mountains. Thus there exists a
very volatile mix of stakeholders who are in a very strict
competition for the limited resources of the uplands.

A vast majority of the 12 Million populations of

Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines reside in the
uplands which they claim as part of their traditional
territories. Most of the remaining natural resources in the
country are found within the traditional lands of the
Indigenous Peoples (De Vera, 2007).

The Indigenous Communities

The Indigenous People represent nearly 14% of the country’s population.

They are among the poorest and the most disadvantaged social group in the
country. Illiteracy, unemployment and incidence of poverty are much higher among
them than the rest of the population. IP settlements are remote, without access to
basic services, and are characterized by a high incidence of morbidity, mortality and
malnutrition.

There are One hundred Ten (110) major Indigenous groups in the Philippines.
Most of the Indigenous Peoples depend on traditional swidden agriculture utilizing
available upland areas. However, most of these traditional cultivation sites and fallow
areas have now been degraded and are further threatened by the influx of migrant
farmers who have introduced unsustainable lowland commercial farming practices.
Furthermore, most Indigenous Communities do not have legal recognition over their

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traditional lands, thus limiting their ability to freely conduct their livelihood activities
and are denied access to other natural resources in their communities (De Vera,
2007).

The indigenous peoples in the Philippines continued to live in their relatively

isolated, self-sufficient communities, at the time when most lowland communities had
already been integrated into a single colony under Spain in the 1700s and 1800s.
They were able to preserve the culture and traditions of their “ethnos” or “tribe” as
reflected in their communal views on land, their cooperative work exchanges, their
communal rituals, their songs, dances, and folklore. Instead of hierarchical
governments, each of these communities had its own council of elders who
customarily settled clan or tribal wars to restore peace and unity.

But with the long years of colonial rule in the Philippines, from the 1700s to
the early 1900s, and the influx of migrants into indigenous peoples’ territories, many
influences have been introduced that gradually changed the indigenous way of life.
Indigenous communities at present are still characterized by these phenomena but
are definitely no longer in their pure and natural state, showing varying degrees of
influence from outside culture.

During the American colonial rule from the 1890s to the early 1900s, the
forces of market economy and central government slowly but steadily caught up with
most indigenous communities. Lowlanders, backed by government legislation,
seized communal lands, and eroded local self-sufficiency in the process. Lowlanders
also brought in a barrage of Western cultural influences that undermined tribal ways
of life to varying degrees.

In the 1970s pressure upon indigenous communities’ land base intensified as

the national economy became increasingly foreign-dominated and export-oriented.
Because they occupy areas rich in natural resources, indigenous communities have
been besieged by a growing number of foreign and local corporations engaged in
mining, logging, plantations, and other export industries. To support these industries,
past and present governments have constructed massive dams and other foreign-
funded infrastructure projects that have continually diminished the extent of
indigenous peoples’ ancestral domain.

The military has also participated in this onslaught against indigenous

communities. It has forcibly relocated tens of thousands of indigenous peoples,
comprising entire indigenous communities, in an attempt to counteract the growing
resistance in the upland areas. These attacks on indigenous peoples are directed
against their ancestral lands.

Depriving indigenous peoples of their ancestral lands will mean the complete
loss of their identity as distinct peoples. Thus, no less than the question of survival is
now at stake for the indigenous peoples in the Philippines. The remaining links with
their ancestral past are being destroyed forever.

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Major Groups of Indigenous Peoples

According to Tunay na Alyansa ng Bayan Alay sa Katutubo TABAK (1990),

there are more than forty ethnic groups that comprise the Philippine indigenous
population, and these can be classified into six groupings excluding the Islamic
groups. The NCIP, on the other hand, identifies ninety-five distinct tribes of
indigenous peoples in fourteen regions of the country and includes the Islamic
groups. The data of KAMP include forty ethno-linguistic groups and three major
groups of Islamic or Muslim Filipinos, and these tribes may be roughly classified into
seven groupings:

(1) Mindanao Lumad: This is a generic term embracing all non-Muslim hill tribes of
Mindanao. Lumad is a Visayan term that means “born and grown in the place”. The
Lumad peoples are composed of some eighteen ethnic groups and they form the
largest grouping of indigenous peoples in the country. They have a total population
today of 2.1 million and are concentrated in varying degrees in the hilly portions of
the provinces of Davao, Bukidnon, Agusan, Surigao, Zamboanga, Misamis, and
Cotabato. They can be found in almost all provinces of Mindanao and they include
the Subanen, Manobo, B’laan, T’boli, Mandaya, Mansaka, Tiruray, Higaonon,
Bagobo, Bukidnon, Tagkaolo, Banwaon, Dibabawon, Talaandig, Mamanua, and
Manguangan.

(2) Cordillera Peoples: This is the indigenous population of the Cordillera mountain
range, which covers six provinces in the middle of Northern Luzon – Abra, Apayao,
Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province. They are collectively called
Igorots, meaning “mountain people” although some groups like the Kalingas and
Ifugaos refuse to be called Igorots except by their own tribes. There are eight ethno-
linguistic groups in the Cordillera, namely, Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga,
Kankanaey, Tingguian, and Yapayao, numbering a total of 988,000 (CPA, n.d;
Molintas, 2004)

(3) Caraballo Tribes: These are the five ethnolinguistic groups – Ibanag, Ilongot,
Gaddang, Ikalahan and Isinai – who together with the Agta peoples inhabit the
Caraballo mountain range in Eastern Central Luzon. This range connects the
provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Nueva Ecija. The Caraballo tribes number
roughly 500,000.

(4) Agta and Aeta/Negrito: These short, dark-skinned and kinky-haired peoples are
considered the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines. Aside from having been
perpetually pushed into the hinterlands of Central Luzon, mainly in the provinces of
Zambales, Bataan and Pampanga, and in other parts of the country, they also suffer
from racial discrimination. With a population of about 160,000, they are the most
widely distributed among indigenous peoples.

(5) Mangyan of Mindoro: This is a generic name for the six ethno-linguistic groups
spread over the mountains and foothills of Mindoro, an island southwest of Luzon,
namely, Batangan, Iraya, Hanunoo, Alangan, Ratagnon, Buhid, and Tadyawan. They
are described as the first inhabitants of the island, and until today, they are one of
the few groups that still practice a pre-Spanish form of writing. Their present
population is about 150,000.

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(6) Palawan hill tribes: These are the non-Muslim tribal people of Palawan island
located further west of Mindoro. This group is composed of four ethnic groups –
Tagbanua, Batak, Kalamianes,Cuyonin, and Ken-uy, and they number at least
120,000.

(7) Muslim Groups: These are the Muslims in Mindanao composed of fourteen
groups, namely, Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, Samal, Yakan, Sangil, Palawani,
Badjao, Kalibugan, Jama-Mapun, Ipanun, Kalagan, Molbog, and Muslim.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Activity 1: Download from the internet a most recent Philippine map (you may also
draw) and make a label to identify where the major ethno-linguistic groups are
located.

Activity 2: Download from the internet a most recent map of Region 2 (you may also
draw) and make a label to identify where the different ethno-linguistic groups are
located.

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Assessment Task
Exercise 3

Name: _________________________ Course & Year: _______________

I. Essay (ten points in each item)

1. Enumerate and explain briefly at least three significant descriptions about IPs
in the Philippines (20 points).
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Learning Resources

De Vera, D. (2007). Indigenous peoples in the Philippines. RNIP Regional

Assembly, Hanoi, Vietnam. Retrieved from
https://aboutphilippines.org/documents-etc/Indigenous-Peoples-
Country-Case-Study_Philippines.pdf