The T'boli consider the household as the basic social and economic unit, hence they do not have village. At most, they form clusters of three or four houses whose occupants are close relations. Most T'boli houses are built on hilltops, primarily for security. T'boli houses are not permanent because of taniba or slash-and-burn farming, which exhaust the land after a number of years; the kimu, the transfer of property on the occasion of marriage; and the practice of burning or abandoning house and moving whenever some member of the household dies.
From a far, a T'boli gono bong (literally,big,house) appear all roofs on stilts. The roof eaves over hang beyond 1 m over the sidewall, making the latter, which are barely 1 m high, hardly noticeable. This stilts are nearly 2m above the ground, making the house look like it is hovering over its site. In the laan gono or space underneath, are tethered horses, a valuable T'boli resource.
The average gono bong is about 15 m long and 9-10 wide, and about 6 m high, from the ground to the roofs peak. The roof has a low slope of 30 degrees with the horizontal.
The T'boli roof is made of cogon or other dried grasses which are strung and sewn to the bamboo rafters with strips of raw abaca or way ng yantok (rattan strips). The stilts are on bamboo, except for the rooted tree stumps used occasionally as posts for the inner portion of the house floor. The walls of the house are of lasak, a very elementary type of sawali consisting of bamboo splits from the inside and flattened out, or of woven bamboo bamboo strips called lahak
The interior can be broken down into roughly seven areas: the lowo(central space), blaba(side areas,des'yung(area of honor),difil (sleeping quarters),dol (vestibule), bakdol(entrance),and feto kohu (utility area)
The lowo is the feature of the T'boli house. Measuring approximately 5x 7m,its flooring is also 20 cm lower than the floor level of the surrounding spaces. The lowo serves as the enral space around which all household activities takes place. At night, it serves as extra sleeping space. The floor of the lasak is made of the finest lasak.
The blaba lie on both th long sides of the lowo and are around 2m wide with flooring also of lasak. The blaba are for sitting, working and for conversing. The meter-house walls of the blaba have tembobeng. Sections made of lasak hinged out to the blaba floor, which can be released outwards, looking like an extention of the blaba floor.
Opposite the entrance area, the desyung completes one end of the gono bong, adjoining the lowo and the two blaba. At its center, adjacent to the lowo, and under the klabu, is the area reserved for the head of the house- the place of honor that commands the view of the entire houses interior. The klabu is a curtained canopy adorned with a wide band of appliqué³ and tassels. This canopy is brought from muslim traders and its quality is an indicator of the T'boli family wealth and stature. On either side of klabu are spaces considered places of honor on which igam (mats) are spread and tilam (cushions and pillows) piled as seats for important guests. The number of igam piled one on the top of other is an indication of the family standing. These mats are left permanently spread out. To tuck them away, the T'boli believe, would cause the death of a household member.
The difel lie at the back and of the either side of the desyung. Lahak beng, sawali partitions that extend up to the roof, separate the defel from the blaba. The entire desyung-difel complex occupies one end of the house, spanning the entire width of and is about 4 m deep. The floor is made of lasak laid crosswise. Lahak beng at times divide this area into cubicles for each of the wives, who sleep there with their respective children.
The dofil can often include or be transformed into a tbnalay, which serves as sleeping quarters for the young unmarried women in the household or for the first, or favorite, wife. The tbnalay is elevated almost 1m above that of the lowo level. This atticlike area is enclosed with lahak beng, with an opening either towards the lowo or of the rest of the desyung-difel area. The space underneath tbnalay, is often used as a working area especially for households engaged in metal working. The dol lies opposite the dseyung, at the entrance end of the lowo. At one end of this 2m wide that crosses the whole area of width of the ouse is the bakdol and, at the center of the remaining three-fourths, the kohu (hearths). Although on the same floor levels with lowo into which it opens to the right (as one enters), the dol area should be classified as a different section of the house. It is the only portion of the house that is floored heavy planks.
The hearth or kohu is defined from its surroundings by its four posts and a beaten-earth floor on which fire is made for cooking. These four bamboo posts, which support the roof, like all other bamboo posts in the interior also support the hala. This is a shoulder-high rack on which pots, baskets of different sizes, ladles maed of coconut shells, and other cooking utensils are placed or suspended.
Suspended from the hala or from any of its posts is the kalo, a loosely meshed network of rattan strips shaped according to the contour of the plates and bowls kept in it. Until some decades ago, antique Chinese plates were common place in the T'boli households, they were used for meals, and may still be seen in some houses. At present, the T'boli ordinarily used tin plates or cheap china bought from low landers, sari-sari or variety stores. These antiquw plates, some of which are beautiful Ming dynasty pieces, are highly valued by the people and play an important role in the establishment of the bride-price. They are heirlooms acquired by T'boli ancestors through barter with the lowlanders from Kiamba.
Not far from hala, one usually sees a lihub, a round, wooden container carved out from a block of wood. It has slid and is used for storing rice.
Anywhere near the surrounding area of the kohu, one may also see jawbones of wild boars, weapons used for hunting, and fish implements hooked onto the posts or against the sawali walls. The jawbones are kept as trophies of the number of wild boars they have captured. The weapons are usually inserted into the crevices of the sawali walls or beneath the cogon roof itself, far from the reach of the children.
One enters the T'boli house by way of the bakdol level through a trapdoor emerging from under the house and into the interior, as from a big chest with its lid open. The tikeb dol (lid to the entrance space) , also called lingkeb, is left open during the day. At night it is lowered and closed just as one would a chest. Most houses make use of the aut, common bamboo ladder with rungs called slikan. The more traditional T'boli ladder, although now less commonly used, is a single bamboo pole with spaced, notched-off section that give man a foothold.
The fetu-kohu completes this end of the T'boli house, opposite the desyung, and is about 2m deep. The fetu kohu is about 20cm higher, just like the blaba and the desyung areas adjacent to the three sides of the lowo. The floor is made of lasak, laid crosswise.
The T'boli house has no toilet facilities but s kotol or outhouse made of bamboo. For bathing, they go to the lakes and rivers.
To the house guests during the moninum (marriage festivals), the gono moninum, a huge structure, is built. The gono moninum can accommodate hundreds of people. It is made of bamboo and sawali. While it looks like a giant gono bong, its floor plan only retains the lowo or central space, around which the fringes are partitioned with light bamboo screens to mark out the sleeping spaces. Furthermore, unlike the gono bong, its entrance is not through the floor but through the door built along on its one long side. This long sides opens into a square, the tebule or structure bearing to the contributions of kimu by the host party?s relatives is erected, framed by T'boli spears and bamboo poles.
There are other structures that the T'boli builds. The lowig tonok is a shed constructed in the middle of the farm as shelter from the sun and the rain; it has a roof but no flooring. The hofo is tall, skeletal tower built in the middle of the rice fields made of bamboo and thatch where the farmer or his children stand watch when the grain is ripe. The hofo is the control center of a bamboo-clapper network devised to scare the birds away when they descend on the ripe grain. The watchers pull the strings of the clappers to rattle them. To store grain, a structure with proportions markedly different from the gono bong is built. Although elevated from the ground as much as the gono bong, the fol is smaller; its sidewalls are higher and windowless.
