Village Institutions and Rituals of the Mamanwas and its Development Implications

Exploring the indigenous local governance among the Indigenous Peoples (IP) or communities in the Philippines would provide ample lessons and best practices which can be integrated into the Philippines’ local government structure. This is due to the fact that their leadership system had been older than the existence of the Philippines state. This work ventured on the discussion of the indigenous leadership system, institutions, and rituals in the Mamanwa community of Bantayakan, Surigao del Sur. The study focused on its discussion on the Mamanwa Village Institutions as a valuable part of the Filipino nation’s heritage. The ethnographic method was used in the study, it employed both the participant and non-participant observations. The qualitative interview was also utilized with the key cultural informants or cultural expert. The free, prior and informed consent was secured from the key informant’s which employed the proper protocol. This study presented a detailed discussion on the significant Mamanwa institutions such the Dakula, Baylanon, Grupo nan Malasser, Grupo nan Marigon and Bagani. It is important because the Mamawas were able to preserve their institutions despite speedy acculturation of other indigenous communities in Mindanao. Further, illustrated the reverence of the community belief system for this reason the Mamanwas are very pious or religious people as manifested with their great reverence to Magbabaja, the supreme being. There is dearth of studies conducted on the ethnography of the Mamanwas in this view the present inquiry provided a detailed discussion on the Mamanwas village institutions and rituals which are vital for policy makers. Along this line or in this end serve as guide post and indeed provided important information for policy planners on the area of ethno-development. A factor for the success of future development interventions to be provided to the community.

Keywords: Mamanwa, Baylanon, Dakula, Tandag, Malaser, Kahimunan