LONG before they adopted today’s calendar, the Manobos in the highlands of central Mindanao would gather at dusk and observe the star-lit sky to know the right time to farm, hunt or fish.

The old Matigsalug Manobos in Bukidnon, in particular, were so steeped in the tradition of pamiteun (pamitu-on) that they applied this to their way of living, according to a University of the Philippines study.

Pamiteun is the Manobos’ indigenous way of understanding stars.

Throughout the year, the Matigsalug looked for signs from eight stars and constellations to determine the season of kaingin (slash-and-burn agriculture), hunting and fishing, the study said.

“The stars serve as their guides in their traditional way of living—kaingin,” then linguistics students Diana O. San Jose and Jessie G. Varquez Jr. said of the Matigsalug in their December 2006 study.

Sadly, pamiteun remains alive only in the minds of the old folks and has lost its luster among the younger generation, the study said.

The study, “Mga Naglalahong Bituin sa Langit: Ang Pamiteun ng mga Matigsalug Manobo (The Vanishing Stars in the Sky: The Pamiteun of the Matigsalug Manobos),” was conducted from Dec. 18 to Dec. 22, 2006 in Barangay Sinuda in Kitaotao, Bukidnon.

An estimated 50,000 Matigsalug, one of the eight ethnolinguistic groups of the Manobos, live in a 77,134-hectare ancestral domain in the mountains of central Mindanao, according to the researchers.

The Matigsalug are the largest group in Sinuda.

Based on interviews with three datus, San Jose and Varquez said that knowledge of pamiteun was unique among the datus, or was associated with the senior members of the Matigsalug.

Social marker

“In fact, knowledge of pamiteun is a social marker because anyone who skillfully understands stars attains a certain status,” they said.

In the olden times, the old Matigsalug folks would sit in a huddle at dusk and wait for the stars to light up the sky, the researchers said, citing the stories of Datus Paquito Uban and Martin Dumacon.

“While chewing betel nut and pointing to the sky, they would exchange views as to what messages the stars bring,” they said.

Datu Libayaw Salibay, the oldest among the three (then at 60), had no such stories to tell because he lived by pamiteun.

“He doesn’t use the calendar. Instead, at dusk he’d look at the sky from the steps of his bamboo hut where we interviewed him. Datu Salibay uses pamiteun as the foundation of his way of living,” San Jose and Varquez wrote.

For the Matigsalug, who mostly lived by kaingin, each star brought a message that would signal the start, the different stages and the end of farming, hunting or fishing, according to the UP students.

There were conditions for a successful kaingin. That’s why the Matigsalug depended so much on the stars to gauge the right time for harvest.

“So we can say that pamiteun served as a calendar of the Matigsalug especially those times when the Gregorian calender had not been introduced to them,” the students said.

The Matigsalug believed that stars could never go wrong. They would attribute a poor harvest or the attack of pests to a misreading of a star’s message.

Eight

The pamiteun consisted of eight stars and constellations—Baha, Pandarawa, Balatik, Malihe, Gibbang, Malara, Lepu and Buwaya, the students said, quoting the three datus.

Baha, Pandarawa and Balatik appear together in the sky from December to February. Malihe appears in March, Gibbang in April and Malara in May. Lepu and Buwaya can be seen in June and August.

The appearance of Baha, a big red star, signals the start of kaingin, or at least the clearing of forest. It can be seen from midnight onwards.

“Datu Salibay pointed to us Baha, and it was indeed red. And we thought if this is the star we call Taurus in modern astronomy,” the students said.

Pandarawa, a constellation of two to eight stars, signals the start of planning the crop and the area (in terms of hectarage) to be planted. At this time, the saplings are cut down.

“From the star, it can be gleaned how large an area that is going to be planted, for instance two hectares,” San Jose and Varquez said.

Most probably, Pandarawa is equivalent to Pleiades in modern astronomy, according to them.

Set up traps

When Balatik, a group of three stars and known as Orion’s belt, appears in the night sky, the Matigsalug see it as a sign to start planting and setting up traps for wild boars that stray and wreak havoc on plants.

After Balatik, comes Malihe. Its appearance coincides with the month of March and is seen as a signal for the planting of crops such as palay, corn or vegetables, and the burning of fully grown trees, as part of kaingin.

The biggest of stars, Gibbang appears next. It signals the end of the planting season, but it is seen as a “star of hope” because it signifies rich harvest. This star is probably equivalent to Gemini, according to the students.

When Malara comes out in May, the Matigsalug stop to plant otherwise the crops would just die. So they head for the river and fish by using the bark of a variety of trees as poison.

Lepu appears toward the end of the harvest season in late May. It serves as a warning to the Matigsalug not to plant corn and rice because these would only be attacked by rats and ants.

San Jose and Varquez said that history professor Dante Ambrosio had mentioned in his study that Lepu was the constellation Aquila.

Passed on orally

The last of the stars, Buwaya signals the coming of rain and thunder.

After it was passed on orally from generation to generation, pamiteun is disappearing from the consciousness and ways of the present generation, according to the study.

For one, the Matigsalug no longer depend on the stars since they started using a calendar for planting. That’s why, the old folks no longer passed this on to the youth, San Jose and Varquez said.

“It’s still being used, but for many Matigsalug, it’s easier to use the calendar than the stars,” the students said.

Slowly disappearing

Besides, the Matigsalug no longer depend on agriculture as the chief means of livelihood, with some going on to work in Davao City or Cagayan de Oro, virtually rendering pamiteun useless, they added.

“This is a cultural heritage that is slowly disappearing,” the students said.

With the gap in knowledge about pamiteun came changes in the values of the present generation of Matigsalug, they said, quoting the three datus.

“For Datu Paquito [Uban], the Matigsalug then and now are different. The young generation doesn’t display the same good values because it has been influenced by other cultures,” the researchers said.

The Matigsalug youth used to be respectful, humble, understanding and helpful, but not anymore, they added, quoting Datu Uban.

Datu Dumacon agreed and attributed the change of values to education and interaction with outsiders.

Karaoke

“More and more are getting hooked on vices and wasting time on karaoke singing, or watching TV. They’ve changed their identity. If before they were traditional, some are now open to assimilating other culture,” the students said, quoting the datus.

Datu Salibay, for his part, said the present generation did not find pamiteun relevant since it no longer farmed and had found jobs in the city.

“As we observed, pamiteun is only relevant to members of the older generation who continue to farm. It doesn’t mean much anymore to the youth and to the next generation,” San Jose and Varquez said.

Go back to roots

The students asked the young generation, aged 40 and below, about pamiteun, and found out it had no knowledge of or interest in it.

Since only a few are engaged in kaingin, many pay little attention to pamiteun.

“It would do the Matigsalug good if they remember their past and go back to their roots. It’s well that they’re able to impart knowledge of pamiteun to the present generation, especially the youth and farmers, to deepen their consciousness about their culture,” the students said.