Mary May Fortajada

San Rafael, Bulusan, Sorsogon

Agta-Tabangnon, a pure blooded Agta married to a low-lander lived in Bulusan,

Sorsogon, Bicol Region. At first, they don’t have permanent house, they move from one place
to another, depending on their livelihood like farming, fishing, etc., also depending to a
particular season. If the sea level is high, they will go high lands like mountains to plant and
farm, raise different animals, harvest coconut, pili, abaka and other kinds of trade. They are
naturally industrious, even the newly delivered pregnant mothers are working. Before they
called “partira”, the ones who assist pregnant women in giving birth, now they called them
“hilot”.
Due to arrange marriage, at the very young age of 14, they get into marriage. Folks
create bonds through “pagnininong” at “ninang” in marriage, binyag and, kumpir later on
called as “intereno” is now the so called witness. Elders were very much respected and were
the ones to be mediator during misunderstandings and commotions. Whoever was the eldest in
the small community will be considered to be the ruler and judge. Whoever will disobey and
disrespect the leader will be cast out with curse. If a person is feeling exhausted, joy, grief and
fear with kabatiran called “gatod” which is now known as usog, what or whoever the person
got his attention, be it a person, an animal or plant will be affected and experiencec like
vomiting and improper bowel movement, if it’s a person or animal, withering of plants and
even death may happen, if not “maulian” or recovered through placing of saliva to the stomach
portion of the victim.
There was also the so-called “anab” in which the victim will have severe wounds on
different parts of the victim’s body, it will not heal until applied with “mama”or “nganga” to the
victim. Leaves of buyo and apog and fruit of the tree of “bunga” were used in “pagnganganga”.
There was also called “tuka”, this happens if one person touches the belongings of another
person without consent, the part of the hand mostly the fingers gets wounded and worse,
bones are twisted, applying with “nganga” is also the cure for this.
The Agta-Tabangnon has a belief that they should not just throw anything anywhere at
night because there are creatures unseen called engkanto that might be hit by them. If these
happens someone who hit them may feel severe disease, or may lead to blindness or death.
They believe that the deity lives in the sun so when they pray they must face to the east, and
must kneel down as a practice of surrender.
The things used for cooking were leaves of anahaw, kawayan, bao, and “kurun”; formed
from mud. When uprooting grasses they uses “timad”, a sharpened metal thick in front and
rear. Houses were built with light materials, anahaw,”pawud”- weaved abaka, kawayan,
”kabugawan”, a shiny kind of bamboo. They also uses”nito” for knotting. ”Uway” or rattan were
used for tying anahaw for the roof of the houses. They also use ”luknit”, a thick metal that has
a sharp edge used for processing abaca. A small hut that stores the things used for processing
abaca was called ”garingan”. The stripping of abaca in the “garingan” is called “hag-ot”, a usual
livelihood of the Agta-tabangnon, and the product is being exported to foreign traders. They
also practice “tuba” wine making from the coconut tree through “kanggot” wherein the “sap”
of coconut is extracted. The extraction of coconut juice is called “takras”. An Agta-tabangnon
can extract tuba wine of up to 3,000 litres in 12hours. To prevent the wine from becoming a
vinegar, tuba was added with “barok”, a powdered leaves that can be bought in the mercado.
Rituals are norms of Agta-tabangnon and are intrinsic within them. The most popular
are the “suob” and “aya”. In “suob”, if a person is sick, they will roast a rock with herbals, a sick
person will cover with blanket or a large piece of cloth, the water that is sunned will be poured
to the flamed rock with herbals, he will inhale the smoke until the heat inside his body will
come out through perspiration. Another kind of “suob” is the smoking of kamangyan placed in
“bagul” or coconut shell all over the house while uttering a spell to cast out the bad luck and
evil spirit. There is also a ritual called pag-aaya”. They call an albularyo to do the “pag-aaya”.
The ritual is being done using a stainless plate, dropped with blessed candle, it will show who
caused the disease or fever. The albularyo will tell what the evil wants in order the person to
feel better. Others use one day old native egg, if the sick stands with his own he is possessed.
He will offer and undergo panata to the spirit for him to get well.
The tourist destinations in Bulusan wherein the Agta-tabangnon resides particulary in
San Roque are the following. Mount Aguingay, that is in the middle of Mt. Bulusan in the lower
part, there is a big hole that if there is a continuous heavy rain, it can form as an Aguingay Lake.
It is very cold in there, there are lots of insects and the most known is the limatok that can suck
all of the blood of one person without knowing. It can be reached through mountain hike for
about six (6) hours of travel. If one has to travel to and from the area, he would take almost 10
hours of travel.
Bulusan Lake has a 5 kilometres wide, very good for kayaking while fishing tilapia. It is
also placed in San Roque. It has floating house and hanging bridge, about 2km. away from the
national road, and can be reached using kabayo de karetila, on a concreted way. Tourists may
hike but should be guided by the personnel or tourist guide assigned in the lake. It also has
massage and spa.
San Roque is very known for its different springs and resorts such as Masacrot Spring,
Fulo Resort, Creekside at Palogtoc Falls,Crystal Spring. These are the different kinds of natural
water found in the barangay. The water is cold and clean and abundant. Masacrot spring is
unique due to its water enriched with pure natural minerals and is very accessible due to its
proximity to the national road.
There is also the very astounding and refreshing Balay Buhay sa Uma. It is a wide area
where there are different floras, bees producing honey, water body that has tilapia, and a chilly
pool, they also host and cater events in wherein they prepare indigenous delicacies like
ginataan especially with suso, suman, pinoso, tamal, binamban, hinagom and many more. The
area is about 200 meters away from the national road.
In barangay San Rafael is where Nasipit Spring located. The area is remote, hence, there
are lots of monkeys that live in huge trees that can be found. Located on the upper portion is a
flowing water coming from the nearby falls in the area. The water is clean and cold, and
accordingly, the area was discovered 300 years ago by the residents. The area is about 1km.
away from the national road, and can be reached by riding a motorcycle or four wheels or even
by walking.
As a student, born from the tribe of Agta-Tabangnon in the contemporary world, I can
say that it is beautiful to revive the lives lived by my ancestors, Agta-Tabangnon, one of these is
“kumbinyo” or bayanihan done by men in the community as an alternate in days where in they
will altogether work like planting, harvesting, and more. They will work all they long for free.
For women it is called “hurunglon”, it is usually doing handicrafts. They will also work together
and the finished products belong to the person who is in slot. The lives of Agta-Tabangnon way
back then were simple and happy compared to the lives of Agta-Tabangnon nowadays wherein
we go with the flow of trends in the modern outside world. Before, they were shy and afraid to
socialize with lowlands, but today we can assimilate to the different environment. We learned
to wear modern clothes, we use make ups and more. We also accepted the idea of birth control
or family planning, before, 12 children and above, 7 could be the minimum. Because, before,
mothers are just in home taking care for their kids, but today both parents are out for work in
order to supply the family needs, due to adapting the new discoveries like electricity at home,
cellphones,, washing machines, gas stove and more. Even mothers become OFWs in order to
survive fitting in. Before, Agta-Tabangnon doesn’t give more emphasis and importance in
education. What’s more important is every family member being together every day.