PRIVATE SEIZURE4
4Tau-a-gán.
The practice of private seizure is a very peculiar one, according to our way of thinking, yet it is universal among the tribes of eastern Mindanáo. As long as it is confined to material things, it is not ordinarily a cause for war, but when practiced on a human being, it frequently results in retaliation in kind.
The practice consists in seizing the property of a third, frequently a neutral, party, as a "call" on the debtor. For example, A owes B a slave and for one reason or another has been unable or unwilling to pay his debt. B has exhibited a sufficient amount of patience, while at the same time he has used every means to bring pressure to bear upon A. Finally, despairing of collecting in an amicable way, and, most probably, suspecting that his debtor is playing with him, he seizes a relative or a slave or a pig of C as a "call" to A. C thus pays A's debt and then takes measures to collect from him, the understanding being that B is to take all responsibility for the consequences.
This system seldom gives rise to a blood feud except when blood has been shed. Thus in the above instance, had B killed C, as a summons to A, a feud would almost infallibly have followed. Yet C's relatives might have been willing to accept a money compensation from B, and might have come to an agreement whereby they would jointly operate against A in order to avenge the death of C.
I witnessed a case in which the seizure of a pig was the origin of a bloody feud that had not ended at the time of my departure from the upper Agúsan. As the individuals involved in the case are still living their names will be represented by letters.
A had been fined P15 because his wife had made the statement that B had knowledge of a secret or magic5 poison. C who was a relative of A and already owed B to the amount of P15, with the consent of all parties concerned, assumed the responsibility of paying A's debt, thereby putting himself in debt to B to the amount of one slave (at P30). Now some of C's relatives had certain little claims against some of B's relatives and thought it a good opportunity to collect their own dues and to diminish their kinsman's debt by presenting their claims for payment. B refused to pay on the ground that his kinsfolk and not himself were responsible for the settlement of said claims, whereupon C refused to deliver his slave till the payment to his relatives was forthcoming.
5Ko-me-tán.
The matter thus lingered for several months until B, who owed a slave to another party, and was pressed for payment thought it time to force matters, and, in company with three relatives, seized A's sow as a "call" on C.
The result of this was that after a few weeks B's wife and another woman were speared to death in a camote patch, and in revenge B took the lives of two of C's party. I made every possible effort to have the matter adjudicated in an informal way but neither party seemed to be anxious to come to terms.