Advocacy
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Paradoxes in the Natural Wealth of Lake Sebu
This is part of a broader study on “Climate Change Experience, Expressions, and Responses in a Tboli Community.” It is based on the understanding that indigenous peoples worldwide have been experiencing the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather changes, longer droughts, and increasing rainfall, which cause floods and landslides. More especially to indigenous Continue reading
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Stepping Back: Reflexivity in the Field
Back in Klubi, Lake Sebu, after a full month. The sound of rain falling on leaves, the earth, and on our roof, is so sweet! I often take for granted small, yet profound details like this back in the city. (Personal Field Notes, 1 May 2013) Often, we read (or made to read, as in Continue reading
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Three Stories of Drought and an Analysis
Here, instead of a linear narrative, I follow the unrestrained telling of my informants, which skips back and forth in time, and blends the past and present together. These are three narratives from Mâ Ungkal, Wè Jenita, and Mâ Eko that I collected on three different occasions. Mâ Ungkal’s testimony of a childhood disaster came Continue reading
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Madaris Volunteers: Hope and Compassion
(16 April 2018 on the Occasion of the Madaris Volunteer Program Batch 3 Culmination Night) Fr. Joel Tabora, president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and president of the Ateneo de Davao University, Dr. Ombra Imam, president of National Association for Bangsamoro Education, Inc., to our partners here in the Ateneo, the Al Continue reading
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An Interview with Yê Nida Anggol
I was first introduced to Yê Nida Anggol back in 2013 when I was documenting the processes involved in the weaving of tnalak. She had a kind face, with a gentle and generous smile. She spoke to me in a Tboli that has its own cadence and rhythm, every word perfectly enunciated. She was a Continue reading
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The Stories of Nayo Lungan
Collected on 6 December 2014 in Lamkwa, Klubi, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. Transcribed and translated into English from Tboli with the help of Bo-i Jenita Eko. Nayo Lungan, I would estimate, is in his late 60s (the Tboli do not reckon their birth years). These stories were collected late in the evening, in the gono bong Continue reading
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An Interview with Mâ Ungkal, Son of Kawit
Mâ Ungkal was about the same age as my late grandmother. I first saw him at the but bnek (Tboli planting ritual) that I attended in March of 2015. He told us stories of how they did the ritual and the planting of upland rice in the 1960s. That day in 2015, he had a smile that was reflective and nostalgic Continue reading
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Notes on Peace: In Ciudad de Sambuwangan
The rugged coastline came into view as we approached the airport of Zamboanga City, Sambuwangan to the ancient Sama people. This was only my second time to visit this city. The first time was a quick stopover as we transited for Tawi-Tawi. But this second visit, only days after the ‘Zamboanga Siege’ and with the Continue reading
Being Here, Now. 