Ten women from the Manobo tribe, (second largest of the indigenous tribes in Mindanao, Philippines) gathered in the house of Manay Laling. Their purpose was to evaluate their six month old socioeconomic project in individual and communal farming. Late last year, these same women had gathered in the community chapel to discuss the feasibility of their project. Now, they are going to assess the outcome of their efforts and their performance as a team.

The ten Manobo women were the first group in Agusan del Sur to be granted by Women's Studies Resource Center (WSRC) with a loan under its Projects Assistance Scheme. The Project Assistance is one of WSRC's programs to create a venue for women's participation in economic and community activities. The program also aims to develop responsibility, collective work and unity among women through income and non-income generating projects.

The women were members of the local women's organization in the province-the KBLC or Kahugpungan sa Babayeng Lumad sa Causwagan (Organization of Tribal Filipino Women in Causwagan. Causwagan is a barrio in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur). They also had their own objectives, aspirations and perspectives in setting up their projects. The women believed that their projects would answer the organization's financial needs especially in attending out-of-town seminars, training, meetings, conventions and carrying out organizational activities. It could also augment their family income. Moreover, these new roles in production would give them more opportunities to get out from their kitchens and be active in productive undertakings outside the home. The collective activity would promote unity among women.

The ten tribal women had defined the project they would undertake. They had decided to cultivate a communal farm where the ten of them would share the planning, decision making and farm tasks such as clearing, planting, weeding, harvesting, etc. Each of them would also cultivate individual pieces of lots where they would have a chance of making independent decisions for the individual farms.

The Women's Farms

The women were proud to say that they had learned and benefited a lot from the program. They have learned new skills and lessons in this new endeavor. They said they had gained their husbands' support especially in helping them in the farm during free time and in helping them in the household chores since both of them were now working in the fields. Some husbands, however, reacted against their wife's preoccupation like attendance at seminars because "household tasks are neglected."

Many women members had also abandoned their gambling and drinking vices because the projects had made them busy. The women also said that they had improved their skills in planning, management, leadership and recording the minutes of the meetings. The women also felt that they had never been closer and stronger as a team before.

The proceeds of the project had indeed helped them in sending representatives to training and seminars outside the barrio. Aside from that, they had also helped the other tribal group in the locality by lending out money for emergency expenses without interest. They have also helped in improving their community chapel. As early as six months, the women had discovered the positive aspects of the project. However, their endeavor was not without problems.

Three days before harvest time, the tribal women performed a taphag (a tribal ritual to be performed before harvesting is done) to give thanks to their Magbabada (god) for the rice that they would receive for the period. They used candles, cigarettes, handkerchief, cooked rice, ginger, and a local commercial wine for the ritual. They were expecting a bountiful harvest, seeing the golden rice fields with rice stalks standing tall and firm.

But three days after the ritual, they met the unexpected. A terrible storm came to the barrio. The winds and storm had flattened out the fields, the lightnings had parched the crops; some portions were even eaten by the pigs. They started to think of reasons for the disaster.

"Maybe the Magbabada got angry at us so that he sent the storm. Maybe the gods had punished us because we did not perform the ritual well. Not all members of the group were present during the ritual. We were not united," says one Manobo woman. They then took note of their first lesson in the organization —that they should be united in every activity.

In spite of that, they were able to harvest 13 sacks of rice grains. But the grains had black spots so they sold 11 sacks at a very low price; the other two sacks were left for the seedlings. "Had the storm not ruined the crops, we could have a harvest of 30 sacks," says one peasant woman. They were lucky enough to get something from their first planting term.

The women also met some problems in the division of tasks. They noticed that the assigned area of land to clean, till and plant for the communal farm was not divided equally among the members. Some had small parts to cultivate while others had larger ones. Some women then felt they worked more than the rest. The women finally resolved that they would no longer divide the lot into parcels for women to work on but they would work on the farm together — of course, with due consideration to those who would get sick or attend seminars.

They also encountered problems regarding the rights to the land they are tilling for communal farming. This land had been abandoned for years but when it produced good crops, one of the barrio folks (a brother of one of their teammates) stated that he was claiming back that piece of land. The piece of land was said to have been trusted to him by its legal owner. The women were furious but knew they could not show any legal papers since the negotiation with the owner had only been done verbally. They then presented the problem to the owner but the owner decided to divide the lot between the women and his caretaker.

After the harvest, the women did not touch the disputed lot. Instead, they developed the new piece of lot which was lately loaned out to them for a term of five years. This time, they were wiser. They already prepared the necessary papers that would support the legality of their negotiations.

Now they are waiting for their next harvest season, with more confidence and hopes for the future. They have many plans for the organization and for the community. For their team, they have resolved to be more open especially to problems and criticisms of any kind so that matters could be cleared up immediately before they would cause misunderstanding among the members. Each member should also be present in every meeting especially when plans and decisions have to be affirmed.

For the community, the women said that they should try to be a model to all other women in the organization. They have also thought of putting up a recreation center for women to drive women away from gambling and drinking sprees. Finally, they have planned to put up and maintain an education component in their program and extend this to other women in order to propagate women's issues in the community.

These tribal women did not have the opportunity of studying in colleges and universities or enjoying the amenities of urban life. These are the women who are driven further to the margins of poverty, illiteracy, subjugation to an oppressive tribal culture and male domination. Yet their awareness of their own situation had moved them to a sincere desire to effect change in their lives and communities. And they believe that this change can only be achieved if they work for it together.

Source: Womennews, Vol V No 3 Women Studies and Resource Center Rm. 207, Santos Bldg., Malvar Ext. Davao City, Philippines