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Iraya Mangyan

The Iraya Mangyan is one of the eight subgroups of the Mangyan ethnic group.

Geography

They reside in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro specifically, in municipalities of Puerto Galera, San Teodoro, Bago, Abra De Ilog, Paluan, Mamburao, and Santa Cruz

Guraan – residential village of the Iraya Mangyan is composed of clustered houses. It is located near a forest or hilll for them to be able to cultivate their kaingin slash-and-burn farms. It is also situated near bodies of water such as rivers, creeks, and bokals (springs) [2].
Wakasan – their semeteryo/wakasan or cemetery can be found in the mountains. Original members of the Iraya Mangyan group are buried closest to the guraan while outsiders are buried in farther portions of the mountain [2].

Worldview

The Iraya Mangyan believes in a superior god, Apo Iraya. Apo Iraya and other gods and goddesses such as Dyaga, goddess of the river, and Alitaw, God of hunting, are believed to be residing and protecting the gulod or forests. The forests are also thought to be the home of spirits and malevolent forces.
Thus, in constructing houses and gathering forest products such as wood fuels, fruits, and mushrooms, everyone is required to ask the permission of the spirits as these spirits are viewed to guide and protect their lives.
The belief in getting punishment from these spirits drive the Iraya Mangyan to strictly conserve their forest landscapes.
The forests are viewed to be an important aspect of their lives and are thought to continuously provide their needs as long as respect, mutual understanding, and just distribution of natural resources benefit each group member.
Virgin forests or gulang are considered secret as they are also believed to host spirits and deities that live harmoniously. Trees in the gulang are marked by the ancestors to remind the next generation that the trees are prohibited from cutting.
Bodies of water near the guraan are believed to bring good fortune and health and bountiful harvests and thus should not be trapped nor disrupted. Bodies of water are then considered sacred. With that, they must take care of the forests and mountains as these bring life to the waters.
The cemeteries are believed to be vessels connecting their deceased loved-ones and ancestors with them. To commemorate their disease, planting inyam (Antidesma bunius) and kalumpang (Sterculia foetida) trees are strictly observed as it reminds them of the time of the passing of their family members [2].

Material Culture

In each village, there are groups of leaders who decide on village concerns [3]. There exists a Puon Balayan, who heads the community and acts like the village mayor. Other officials like the Amayan or male elder, the Inayan or the female elder, the Pasadyaan (expert on customary law), and Suguan (equivalent to the police) play important roles in resolving disputes in the villages. They are all chosen by nomination and not by election [4].

Social and Cultural Organization

Bahay Kubo - the traditional Iraya Mangyan house has certain elements that must adhere to specific orientations.
Its roof is oriented in a perpendicular direction, in a north-south direction, which is against the movement of the sun. This specific orientation is believed to provide good relationship among family members. The roof ridge or palupo must also be in the north-south direction. If not, it will be a source of sickness and bad luck.
The door is oriented facing the eastern section of the house as it is believed that this keeps them from getting sick and keeps them from having difficulties in surviving the mountains.
Its windows have no specific orientation but some are pleased in the eastern part of the house as well to add more opening to channel good health and fortune to the family. The windows also enabled them to connect with the sunrise and full moon that brings luck and bountiful harvest.
Its columns have a total of 6. It is thought that having 6 columns is a ‘well-balanced’ house and that it balances relationships of parents and relationship with their children [2].

Issues Confronting the Group

In the last few years, the Iraya Mangyan, has been subjected to minoritization:
1. the arrival of lowland Christians, mostly Tagalogs, in through their settlements and drove some of them into the hills while others resettled in reservations.
2. The restrictions of some government agencies on slash-and-burn agriculture caused low productivity and non-access do their traditional resources [5].
3. Commercial logging firms trespassed under ancestral lands and some have been reportedly hiring goons who terrorize the area, leading to increased loss of sense of security with the locality [5].
4. Some of them are forced to seek refuge in nearby provinces to escape from military operations in Mindoro [6].
5. Government projects such as sanitary landfills have nearly caused the eviction of the Iraya Mangyan out of their ancestral land [7].
6. Some of the Iraya Mangyan have forgotten to speak the Iraya language. That is the case of the Iraya Mangyan residing in Magnot, Barangay Balao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro [8].

Media

An infographic of the contents here about the Iraya Mangyan by Francis Bravo, and Jaydee Yogyog - University of the Philippines Baguio

References

1. PPDO Oriental Mindoro, Facts and Figures, https://ppdo.ormindoro.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads /2020/02/FACTS_and_FIGURES_2018.pdf.
2. Charl Justine B. Darapisa, “Guraan, Kaingin, at Gulang: Discovering the Landscape Identity of the Vernacular Landscape of Mangyan Iraya Tribe through Ethnographic Study and Social Learning,” Seoul National University, 2020, https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/hanle/10371/169693.
3. Bawaga, Aleli. “Customary Justinec System Among the Iraya Mangyans of Mindoro.” Agham Tao 17 (2009): 16. https://pssc.org.ph/wp-contentpssc-archives/Aghamtao/2009/06_Customary%20Justice%20System%20Among%20the%20Iraya%20Mangyan’s%20of%20Mindoro.pdf
4. International Labor Organization, The Road to Empowerment: Strengthening the Indigeous Peoples Right Act (Manila: International Labour Office,2007), 103.
5. Baes, J. “Marayaw and the Changing Context of Power Among the Iraya of Mindoro, Philippines.” Paper presented at Katutubong Sining: Art, Ritual, and Society, Manila, April 21-24, 1988. Manila: Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, https://jstor.org/stable/836788.
6. Baes, Jonas, “Mangyan Internal Refugees from Mindoro Islang and the Spances of Low-Intersity Conflicy in the Philippines.” Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures 1, no.1 (2007): 59. https://www.shimajournal.org/issues/v1n1/i.-Baes-Shima-v1n1.pdf.
7. Lian Nami Buan, “48 Mangyan families in Puerto Galera may lose homes to landfill,” GMA News Online, May 21,2015. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/specialreports/490838/48-manyan-families-in-puerto-galera-may-lose-homes-to-landfill/story/.
8. Kathleen Lei Limayo, “DOCUMENTARIES: THE FILIPINO | Sa Rikaw,” TVUP, May 21,2017, YouTube video, 32:50, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z7zdyKzCks&t=1829s.