The Manóbos of Mindanáo / Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir

by John M. Garvan

PROPRIETARY LAWS AND OBLIGATIONS

CONCEPTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

Property rights in the full sense of the word are not only very clearly understood but very sternly maintained. The Manóbo conception of them is so high that, with the exception of such things as camotes and other vegetable products, even gifts must be paid for. And even for such trifling things as camotes, an equivalent in kind is expected at the option of the donor. During my wanderings I was always in the habit of making presents as compensation for the food furnished me, and was frequently asked why I had done so, and why I did not make the recipients of these presents pay me. No explanation could change the strong belief that all property of any value, whether given under contract or not, should be paid for. This principle is further evidenced by the fact that there is no word in the Manóbo dialect for gift nor is there any word for thanks. In some places, however, they have a conception of "alms."³ On many occasions one of the first requests made to me by a new acquaintance of some standing was a request for alms. I am of opinion that this idea was acquired by them from the universal reports concerning the liberality of the missionaries who from the middle of the seventeenth century labored in the Agúsan Valley. A request for alms or for a present of any value is seldom made by one Manóbo of another, but when it is made it is met by a simple answer, "I do not owe you anything." That settles the question at once.

³Lí-mos, probably from the Spanish limosna, alms.

My practice of distributing gifts frequently aroused some ill feeling. For example, on many occasions I was asked by individuals why I had made presents to so-and-so and not to them. It was necessary in these cases to explain that I owed a debt of good will to the individuals referred to and that I would most assuredly give like gifts to others whenever I should become indebted to them in a similar manner.

LAND AND OTHER PROPERTY

Customary law regarding public land is very simple. Each clan and, in some cases, one or more individual family chiefs, have districts which are the collective property of the clan or family. Theoretically this ownership gives hunting, fishing, agricultural, and other rights to that clan or family, to the exclusion of others. In practice, however, anyone who is on good terms with the chief who represents the family or the clan in question, may occupy a portion of the land without any other formality than that of mentioning the matter to the proper chief. The occupation presumes that the occupant is on terms of good will with the chief, and it never implies that the new occupant is required to pay anything for the use of the land. With regard to fishing rights, especially when the fish-poisoning method is employed, it is very often stipulated that a share of the catch shall be given to the owner. When the two parties concerned are on good terms, the territory of one may be used by the other for hunting, apparently without any question.

When the rice-sowing season is at hand, the Manóbo goes over the clan district and selects any piece of vacant land that, because of its fertility and closeness to water, may have recommended itself to him after a due consultation of the omens. Having made the selection, he formally takes possession of the land by slashing down a few small trees in a conspicuous place and by parting the top of a small tree stem and inserting into it at right angles a piece of wood. He then returns to his settlement and announces his selection. He has become now the owner of the land. Anyone who might attempt to claim the land would become cleft, so it is believed, like the parted stem that was left as a proof of the occupation of the land. In a few cases I saw a broken earthen pot left on an upright stick. It was explained to me that this, too, was a symbol of what would befall the one who would dare to dispute the right to the property. This is another evidence of the widespread belief in sympathetic magic.

In my travels throughout eastern Mindanáo I never heard of a single instance of a land dispute among the non-Christian peoples. There is no reason for dispute because the whole of the interior is an immense and very sparsely populated forest that could support millions instead of the scant population which is now scattered through it. Moreover, the religious element in the selection, the consultation of omens, and the approval by the unseen world seem to prevent disputes.