Who We Are: The Manobos

by Angelyn Shane Estrada

            "Manobo" is from the word "Manuvu" or "Minuvu" which means "person" or "people." There is another idea that it may have originally been "Mansuba" which means the word “man” is person or people and suba which means river, thus meaning "river people." A third derivation is from "Banobo," the name of a creek that now flows to the Pulangi River about two kilometers below Cotabato City. Today, they are called Manobo.

            The Manobo are believed to descended from the original proto-Philippine or proto-Austronesian people who arrived thousands of years ago from south China, before the Ifugao and indigenous peoples of northern Luzon. The term "Proto-Manobo" refers to this stock of Mindanao's aboriginal non-Negritoid people. They are residing in mostly island of Mindanao beside river valleys, hillsides, and plateaus of Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Misamis Oriental, and Surigao del Sur. There are 8 groups of Manobo, the Cotabato Manobo, Agusan Manobo, Dibabawon Manobo, Matig Salug Manobo, Sarangani Manobo, Manobo of Western Bukidnon, Obo Manobo, and Tagabawa Manobo which their groups are related to their political divisions or places.

            Different Manobo’s communities have one thing that binds them together, this is their belief in their one Great Spirit that they think of as their creator. They also believe in unseen spirits that will have a great impact into their lives. Also, in their common lifestyle, they have a native ritual which is the Samayaan where it is an omen where they will start their farming cycle including clearing, planting, growing, and harvesting. The Manobos way of life is through agriculture that they cultivate rice, corn, coconut, and sweet potatoes. They also hunt for bees. While waiting for the crops to be harvested, they also go hunting, trapping, and fishing.

            The Manobo tribe are male-dominated or patriarchal in which the head of the family is considered the man, the husband, that leads the family decisions. In a Manobo community, having more than one wife at the same time is permitted according to a man’s wealth which is called Polygamy that is common, and it must have the consent of the first wife and her parents. Having more than one wife, the first wife will still be the head wife. However, the Manobo in Bukidnon marriages is monogamous except for the powerful Datus which are allowed to have another wife.