Matigsalug Immersion: Discovering the fount of Generosity

            As soon as we got off from the Rural transit bus we had immediately set ourselves for another trip going to Sitio Contract of Barangay Salumay, Marilog District, Davao City which was about 9 kilometres from the highway. It was a 30-minute drive by means of a “Skylab” – a motorcycle with two flat wooden-seemed-wings. During the trip I enjoyed very much to be on the left wing of the skylab even though my position was very tiring. I had to hold the tank with my right hand and keep my left hand holding the side bar of the wooden-seemed-wing to make sure my safety for the whole trip. And yet, I had to keep both of my legs close to hold and support the rice and other goods with me. And as we set off to Sitio Contract the rain started also to fall. By the time we have reached the area, we were all wet. I was indeed all wet! However, the trip was so exciting and fascinating and wonderful.

          As soon as we were ready for the welcome ceremony, we met the children and the other members of the community to begin the ritual. A white chicken was sacrificed and prayers were chanted in traditional Matigsalog dialect. A small amount of blood was placed into the plate where we dipped our fingers and made a mark on our palms. The rest of the blood where placed into the soil and where the chicken after cutting its throat was released. As the chicken jerked and jolted for its last breath, it moved around, here and there until it stopped with its head pointing the east. It was a good sign! It is an old indigenous belief that as the blood of the chicken is sacrificed for the spirits, the chicken’s head would give a message to the community. If it points to the south or north, it means neutral, neither good nor bad. If it would be pointing the east, it is a good sign. But when the head points to the west, it means a bad sign, a bad omen for the visitors and for the tribe.

      It was a ritual invoking the spirits that surround us to tell the community if our (seminarians) intention of coming there is pure. It was as well asking those spirits for guidance and blessing throughout our immersion with the Matigsalug. A traditional dance with the accompaniment of the traditional Matigsalog musical instruments such as the Kuglong – looks like a guitar but has only two strings (used by men) and the Saluray – also a stringed instrument made out of bamboo (used by women).

              The term Matigsalug actually means “people along the Salug River” (now Davao River). It was said that their original settlement was at the mouth of Salug River, which is now Davao City. It was said as well that they were part of the Manobo Tribe, a Malayo-Polynesian origin. During those years when they were at the mouth of the river, a time came when pirates and other invaders of the land harassed them. This caused the Matigsalug to move further up the Salug River. Yet when other invaders of Indonesian origin came into their place, the Matigsalug had experienced more harassment in their mid-latitude habitation. Consequently, it drove them away from their original settlement and led them instead to where they are now. At present, these people occupy mainly Central Mindanao and specifically the Province of Bukidnon and at its boundaries.

               And there, with these people I had the experience of eating, sleeping, playing, working, laughing, talking, dancing, singing and praying and more. And if I would have a glance at it, my immersion seemed to be more of a weekend recreation or a vacation. I was there without any program or input to give like in the missions I had. I was there to enjoy their company. I was called by the children Kakey (pronounced as KAKOY) which means an older brother or sister for it is a general term that applies to both sexes. And to the elders, I was called Tate (pronounced as TATO) which means younger one but equivalent to the Visayan dialects as Toto for the Illongos or Dodong for the Cebuano speakers. And I went to their farm too, to the nearby houses and went to their wonderful water falls. I ate their food, stayed in their house, and shared their blanket. Moreover, I listened to some of their painful and wonderful life and faith stories.

            And nevertheless, when I looked deeply into my short experience of living with them I found it essentially rich and wonderful. I was received into a house, as they would call it, with almost nothing but an elevated cut-flat wood floor evidently residues from timbers which were slightly burned. The wall was made from bamboo strips and partly some plywood and metal roof which were given by one of the biggest broadcasting network in the country. In one corner as well were bags and sacks filled with clothes probably clothes they received from the city during Christmas seasons. There was a small portion also for the dirty kitchen with a small table and a bench. And yet, I had the experience of a true HOME! It was a home indeed. Even though my Nanay Telma was a widow and has 10 children from the ages of 25 to 3 years old, she managed to feed her children at least. Honestly, it was too difficult for her to send them to school for she needs money for that and certainly one cannot go to school without any single penny. And yet I was so surprised to the kind of generosity this widow has. Despite her situation of being a widow, which means having no partner in supporting the family but only her teenage and adult children, she could give whatever she has to people who come to her. I was a witness to that. Some of the families where my brother-seminarians stayed and other neighbours come to her to ask for some vegetables, rice, native coffee or anything that she has. The person who came and asked would always have something. And the fact of accepting me in her house, in their wonderful home, was actually a risk and a demand for her. She always provided me with something to eat and I always got the bigger portion or more food for that is the culture. She even provided me with foam for sleeping which she borrowed from the other village that I won’t feel so much cold in the night. She covered my feet with extra blanket to ease the freezing dawn.

(from left to right: Dennis, Nilo, Maylene, Nanay Telma, Jan-jan, Jomil, Jerome-in green tshirt and the rests are silingan lang...)

               And one of the wonderful events that I had in that immersion was the deep and intimate exchanging and sharing of stories of life. Those were stories of life’s struggles, pains, doubts and as well as joys, wonder and faith. These stories moved me from tears to laughter and from worries to wonder. Then, in the course of our stories I was caught in the spontaneous statement of Nanay Telma, she said to me, “Ug kining tanan, Tate, giisip nako nga mga grasya sa Ginoo” (And all of these, Tate, I take them as graces from God). Everything! Indeed, are graces from God. Precisely, this makes my Nanay generous for she sees God’s generosity in her life. With all the hardships and struggles and deprivation and poverty there is so much grace in her life and with the whole family and certainly with the entire community of Sitio Contract.