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

by John M. Garvan

⁴Ba-lí-bad.

In cases where serious consequences might result from a failure to fulfill a contract, it is customary for the contractor and often for the other party to make a number of knots on a strip of rattan, each knot signifying a day of the time to elapse before payment, or representing one article of the goods to be paid for, or one item of the goods to be delivered.

All more important contracts are made in the presence of witnesses, and the time and the number of articles to be delivered are counted out on the floor with grains of corn or with little pieces of wood, or are indicated by counting a corresponding number of the slats of the floor.

THE LAW OF DEBT

The law of debt in Manóboland is so rigid that failure to comply with it has given rise to many a bloody feud. All commercial transactions are conducted on a credit basis. An individual whom we will call A needs a pig, for instance, and starts out on a quest to secure one. He visits one of his acquaintances and informally brings up the subject, remarking, for example, that he would like to buy a certain pig that is in the settlement. He may not be able to make the purchase until he has tried several settlements, for it may happen that the owner of each pig may want in exchange objects that A does not have and is unable to get. Thus B, the owner of a pig in the first settlement, wants in payment a Mandáya lance of a certain length, breadth, and make. Now A knows of no one from whom he can procure such a lance, so he has to go on to the settlement of C who in exchange for his pig wants five pieces of Mandáya cloth. A is afraid to take the pig on such terms because the Ihawán Manóbos are in arms on account of a recent killing, and as the trade route for Mandáya cloth passes through the territory of the Ihawán Manóbos he sees no possibility of fulfilling a contract to deliver the cloth. So off he goes to the settlement of D where he finds a pig for which the owner demands four yards of blue cloth, two of red, and two of black, together with a specified quantity of salt. A thinks that it will be easy for him to run over to some Christian settlement and get those articles in time to pay D, so he clinches the bargain by putting a series of knots in a strip of rattan to represent the number of days to expire before the date of payment. This he delivers to D and the contract is sealed. He then returns to his settlement with his pig, and turns it over to some one else perhaps, to whom he owes a pig, or, if it was intended for a sacrifice, to the family priest or priestess. In due time it is disposed of with much satisfaction to the gods and to the inner man. As the day for payment approaches, A must take measures to get the salt and the cloth for D, so he hastens to the settlement of E, if sickness in the family, or heavy rains, or some other obstacle does not prevent him, but finds that E requires a Mandáya bolo for the articles needed and as A has no such object and sees no immediate prospect of obtaining it, he goes on to F's. F demands a certain amount of beeswax and a Mandáya dagger in exchange for the cloth and the salt and as A feels that he can procure these articles, he closes the bargain, promising to deliver the goods within so many days or weeks.

A now owes D cloth and salt, payable within 14 days, let us suppose. He is also under contract to F to furnish him a dagger and a specified amount of beeswax, also on a specified date. Upon the approach of the time agreed upon A runs over to F's only to find that F had been unable to get the cloth and the salt, either because no Bisáya trader has been up to the Christianized settlement on the river; or because of heavy rains or for some other reason. The result is that A returns to his settlement without the cloth and the salt. Upon his arrival at D's or upon D's arrival at his settlement, as the case may be, he excuses himself to D, setting forth in detail the reason for his failure. He treats D as best he can, and fixes another date for the delivery of the salt and the cloth, the same to be delivered at D's settlement. D returns to his home without the salt and the cloth and awaits the delivery.

Now it may happen that, through the fault of A or through the fault of F or through unforeseen circumstances, A is unable to keep his agreement. D has made many useless trips to collect from A. It is true that D has been feasted by A upon every visit but the long delay, and possibly his debt of salt to someone else, is gradually provoking him. So one day he speaks somewhat strongly to A, setting a definite term for the payment. If A is unable to meet his obligations after this ultimatum, or if D suspects or has proof that A is playing a game, matters become strained and D has recourse to one of three methods: (1) Collection by armed intimidation; (2) the tawágan or seizure; (3) war raid.

The last two methods have been sufficiently explained in Chapter XVIII but the first needs a little explanation.

After all attempts to collect by peaceable means have failed, the creditor assembles his male relatives and friends and proceeds to the house of the debtor with all the accoutrements of war. It is customary to bring along a neutral chief or two from other clans. Upon arriving at the debtor's house no hostile demonstrations are made. The creditor and his party enter as if their object were an ordinary visit. Should, however, the debtor have abandoned his house, this part of the affair would be at an end, for the creditor would be justified in adopting the second method (i. e., the seizing of any object, human of other that he might see), or the third method.