Bukidnon - Sociopolitical Organization



Social Organization. Bukidnon today are so intermixed and intermarried with non-Bukidnon that, while they remain cognizant of the ethnolinguistic identity of other residents in their barangay, they cannot be said to maintain a separate social organization. Like other Filipinos, their social circle consists of a mosaic of personal alliances that each Bukidnon weaves with non-Bukidnon as well as with other Bukidnon out of real kinship ties, ritual kinship relations, relationships based on special debts of gratitude, market-exchange partnerships, patron-client bonds, and friendships. One's place in this circle is not determined by rank at birth. Those who receive greatest respect from other Bukidnon tend to be those living in towns who have, by virtue of their educational level, obtained salaried civil-service jobs. It follows that the Bukidnon tend to place extraordinary importance on education, for this has been their ticket to success. This relatively open social system, however, represents a marked change from the past. Until the turn of the century, Bukidnon society remained hierarchically organized, crowned by the tribal head datu whose sakop (followers) included his first wife and other wives and their children, lesser datus and their families, families of freemen without a datu as their head, and slaves by debt bondage or captureā€”although even then, and with the exception of slaves, rank depended less on birth than on talent. Sakop worked the land designated for them by the head datu, protected the community from would-be slavers, and served the head datu on request.

Political Organization. Despite recent efforts by the Philippine central government to organize and employ datus in a Higaonan Datu Association, political unity continues to elude the Bukidnon people. Before the Spanish began resettling them in villages on the plateau, they may have recognized regional chiefs known as masalicampo. But there is no evidence that they were ever united under a single leader possessing the stature of a sultan or raja, and they have never regarded themselves as anything like a nation.

Social Control. As is the case with other Filipinos, Bukidnon stress skills that enhance smooth interpersonal relations and minimize interpersonal conflict. When a difference of opinion arises, in order not to injure another's self-esteem, they will seek out a go-between, employ euphemism rather than open criticism, or just go along (at least superficially) with the situation. In the old datu system, if a go-between succeeded in settling disputes without arousing hard feelings on any side, he soon came to be called "datu" for dispute settling; this involved not only fairness and acquaintance with customary law, but generosity in using one's own resources (plates, jars, animals, money) to assuage the bad feelings of a disputant. Today Bukidnon continue to seek out leaders who can arbitrate their disagreements and thereby help them circumvent the more expensive and formal legal system of the Philippines.

Conflict. Bukidnon generally seek not to engage in fighting but rather to avoid it. This, however, was not always the case, and there have been important exceptions to this rule in recent history. Cole reported that until the twentieth century bagani (warriors) would frequently raid Manobo or other Bukidnon settlements for slaves and personal prestige. They produced only very crude weapons themselves, depending on trade with Moros for their best knives and spears. They did not practice headhunting, but did on occasion engage in the ritual sacrifice of a captured enemy. In the last two decades acts of violence have become more and more commonplace as Bukidnon have lashed out against loggers, migrant settlers, the personnel of large sugar and pineapple corporations, and others whom they blame for their general loss of land and power. The most serious of many such incidents occurred in 1975 when hundreds of Bukidnon joined the Rizalian revitalization movement in the remote region of Miarayon between Mounts Kitanglad and Kalatungan. At least 34, and perhaps as many as 200, were killed in the fighting that ensued between them and the Constabulary.


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I BELIEVE ON WHAT IS WRITTEN. I MERELY BELIEVE. BESIDES, BUKIDNON S A LAND IN THE FOREST.AND GREAT ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER IS NORMAL. AS A MATTER OF FACT, MANY FOREIGNERS VISIT BUKIDNON HIGHLY FOR ITS PEACEFUL CULTURE.THATS ALL.
i want to know about socio political system of bukidnon

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