Lake Sebu: Home of the T'boli Tribe dubbed as the Summer Capital of Southern Philippines.
Lake Sebu is located at the southwestern part of the Province of South Cotabato. It is approximately 40 kilometers away from Koronadal City, the capital town of the Province of South Cotabato. It is bounded on the North by the Municipality of Surallah, on the southwest by the Municipalities of Kiamba and Maitum in the east by the Municipality of T'boli and in the west by Palimbang of the Province of Sultan Kudarat. It is located at 6'10'N Latitude and 124'44' Longitude.
Lake Sebu is an Indigenous Cultural Community. It is a T'boli homeland. After 25 years of corporate existence as a Municipal Government, its progress is remarkable. This progress can be attributed to the harmonious and united constituents to a common vision towards Ecology, Culture and Tourism.
But Lake Sebu has a long history of classical pasts and sixty years of pioneering immigrants, who faced undauntedly the challenges of nature and the vagaries of politics. Lake Sebu is inhabitied by the Tagabili tribes and other ethnic groups who migrated to this part of Mindanao perhaps even before the birth of Christ. They were beleived to be of pure Malayan stock.
These Malayan pioneef led an isolated and peaceful existence. They remain isolated for centuries. When Mohammedanism reach Mindanao, only Malayan in the lower valleys where converted into Islam Religion. The Tagabili or T'boli as often called were not affected. Not even with the coming of Spaniards in the 15th and 17th century nor the American in the early 20th Century. This was largely because of geographical barriers and inadequate communication, infrastructure systems, Lake Sebu manage to remain autonomous throughout centuries.
Then came a significant trust, under the administration of the Late President Manuel L. Quezon. Mindanao being the Land of Promise has been a site for settlement projects for people in Central and Northern Philippines.
The first wave of settlers had come led by Gen. Paulino Santos, that was 1938. It was in the 40's when settlers set foot on these Indigenous Cultural Communities.
From February 1938 to October 1950, 8, 300 families were resettled by the National Land Settlement Agency (NSLA). These migrations adversely affected the T'boli. In the wakeof home steaders came commercial ranching, mining and logging interests.
Armed with land grants and timeber licenses, these entities increasingly enchroached upon the T'boli homelands and disenfranchised those who had resided on the land since time immemorial. By not having access to the instruments of ownership recognized by the Philippines Government, the T'bolis did not obtain legal protection from the former (CCP Encyclopedia 1994).
The upland of Lake Sebu was dominantly inhabited by T'bolis and they called the place S'bu (until now). Swa system or barter was already a long practice by the people as the means of acquiring goods and services. The T'boli lived a happy, peaceful and abundant life. There were plenty of foods for their needs due to the land, which is still spacious and fertile, suited for agriculture and domestication.
Datu Baay Seng, Tamfungan Dulay And Datu Sugan were recognized tribal leadersby the Local Government of Buluan in this place. Nevertheless, when Lake Sebu was placed underthe one of the political geographical units of Banga, Mr. Samuel Undan was recognized as a leader holding a position of Barrio Lieutenant Datu Balicucos Abdul, a Muslim from Kiamba who married a T'boli lady was appointed head of the Barangay by Mayor Improgo of Banga in 1956 and 1957. Mr. Morito Dumaup (1962-1970); Mr. Juanito Aguilar (1970-1982) and Mr. Antonio Estares in 1982 with three T'boli Councilmen and 3 Visayan Councilmen composing a total of six members of the barangay council.
Barangay Lake Sebu was created and declared a municipality last November 11, 1982, and then, a plebiscite in October 15, 1983 which is one year after the passage of Batas Pambansa Bldg. 249- an act of creating Lake Sebu into a new municipality of the Province of South Cotabato. The said act was sponsored by Hon. Assemblyman Jose T. Sison Sr. and was approved on November 11, 1982.
THE PEOPLE:COME AND MEET THE T'BOLI PEOPLE
Renowed for the distinct weaving (derived from their dreams and materialized in a culture), T'bolis are colorful ethnic groups, people of medium build and are light in complexion. Some of them are square jawed and their hair maybe curly or straight.
TALKING ABOUT CULTURE IN GENERAL
Culture may be broadly described as the ways of patterns of
life, acquired by learning which characterizes a human
community. All people eat, but the ways they eat differ. It is
a factor of culture. The European eats with knife and fork, a
Chinese with chopsticks and an Indian with his right hand.
Using chopsticks for eating is not naturally inherited, it is
learned. And so are many things. Culture is more than an Art,
literature, theater or poetry. It is therefore something very
comprehensive and includes habits of living, eating and
dressing; ways of communicating and the arts as well as family
structures and systems of production, law and decision-making.
The term culture is used in several popular but confusing ways. First, it is commonly associated with such aesthetic pursuits as art, drama, ballet and literature. These make up what is often called a society's high culture as opposed to its low culture and that is, more popular art, pop music and mass media entertainment. Second, such term as hippie culture, adolescent culture, and drug culture imply that distinct groups in society possess these characteristics. Such groups are often termed subcultures. A third, scientific use refers to growing material in a chemical laboratory. A fourth confusing use of culture is a term for society. Thus, the term British culture is often a loose way of referring to British society and its culture. When people use the term in this way, they are referring to the people in Britain as being members of British culture or belonging to British culture. The same loose treatment of the term should be avoided. We cannot emphasize the correct usage: People belong to, live in, or are members of social groups: they are not members of culture. Louis Schneider has stressed; Putting people into culture is a sad maneuver into which scientist slip time and time again.
The manner of life of a people is determined by a broad spectrum
of factors. Of importance is the geographical position of a
community with its climate; people develops differently in
mountains and deserts, in a tropical forest of in any region.
In here, it is noticed as one of the most important
characteristics of human: they adapt themselves to a great
diversity of conditions in life and this finds expression in
their cultures. In a people?s way of life, this finds
expression in their cultures. One level is action like their
style in clothing, means o
f agriculture or transport. Next is
the level of symbol such as how people greet each other, their
myths, their rites of passage at birth, marriage and death, what
dealings with deities, or what conventional signs or gestures
adapted. Basis here is language. Language is so elementary to
culture that when another language is spoken, another culture is
present. It is at these levels that we find the values not
easily assessed of a people: what they consider important or
valuable, what the hidden meaning is of what is expressed
outwardly. Within this whole gamut of values, some are
considered foundations, things on which people think their whole
culture rests. These values differ form one culture to
another. All levels are linked with one another to form one
whole. To touch on one element affects all others. Every human
being goes through a very long process of growing into the
culture to which he or she belongs. The technical term for this
is the process of enculturation.
Another characteristic is that a culture is always changing. The causes of change are many: demographic developments, economic laws, climatic changes. Technological discoveries occupy a special place in this aspect. Added to this, such changes within a culture may arise from either internal or external causes, by originating from within or through contact with another culture. Within a culture, one may find several subcultures. In a particular culture, one may discern several groups corresponding to age or social and economic conditions. These are subcultures because they fall within the ambit of a grater. One with which they have a lot of elements in common and also have a certain number of features of their own.
Culture is a term we all use freely in numerous contexts, and for this reason, we tend to take the idea of culture for granted. In many Western societies, the word culture has assumed importance because it forms part of the terms multiculturalism and multicultural education. When used in these two approaches to pluralist education, culture is a defining concept. That is, how we define Culture determines the meaning of the term if forms a part. Unless we know what culture means, we will find it very difficult to understand the full implications of multiculturalism and multicultural education.
For example, if culture is defined as the heritage and traditions of a social group, then multicultural education means teaching about many (multi-) different heritages and traditions. But if culture is defined as a social groups design for surviving in and adapting its environment (an approach we favor in) then one aim of multicultural education is to teach about the many social groups and their different designs for living in our pluralist society.
