Last Friday, the class watched 2 Philippine documentaries about the natives who live on the island of Palawan, situated at the southern tip of the Philippines. Funded by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the films set out to uncover the reasons behind the natives' dilemmas and miseries which have haunted them for generations. The indigenous ethno linguistic groups who live on Palawan Island include the the Tagbanua, Palawanon, Tau't, Bato, Visaya, Bugkalot and Igorot tribes. Some live in remote villages in the mountains and cultivated the lands there while seafarers occupy the coastal areas to fish and collect pearls. Apart from farming and gathering forest products, the Tagbanuan people are known to indulge in bird's nest-collecting activities which can provide extra income.
The films first attempt to introduce selected tribes in detail; the introduction may include their history, language, culture, performing arts, religion and economic activities. They do this by sharing knowledge of what they already know about a certain tribe and also excerpts from interviews of natives who provide the film makers with additional information. It is apparent that the director may have only chosen interviewees who could communicate in Tagalog, the basis of the national language of the Philippines, Filipino. The reason for this is perhaps for the convenience of the target audience, the Filipino people. The cameras also caught moments of everyday life: people dancing, eating, talking, smoking, etcetera. Perhaps the director aimed at portraying how simple life is in these parts, where people were care-free and blissful.
The films continue by discussing the grievances of the native people who were negatively affected by the forces of modernisation and how life was getting more complicated. For example, education in rural areas for the younger generation was generally opposed by the elders because they believed that Western education was a subversive element that could harm their people's mindset and uproot their millennia-old traditions. The natives also detested the mining facilities that were in place in the mountains to harvest valuable resources from the ground (which completely ruined intercropping activities) as well as blasting coral reefs to retrieve pearls. Again, the cameras are panned on the natives who express their dissatisfactions over such unfair circumstances. They do not seem to understand why they have to pay dearly for what the capitalists are doing to enrich themselves. One of the films openly criticises the Aquino family for playing a vital part in providing military support by sending in Marines to beef up security in areas controlled by Jewelmer, a famous local jewelry company which was harvesting pearls in the waters of Palawan Island. This angered local fishermen whose income was cut in half as they had no access to deeper waters.
As the films progresses, the audience is treated to more of nature's splendour, including the beautiful seasides, caves, Mount Apo and so forth. It is also interesting to note that the narrator often refers to the natives as 'they' and the audience as 'us'. Perhaps the films try to point out that the city folk or elitists have disregarded the indigenous people since they have barely any impact on Filipino society, though they have been around for 22,000 to 24,000 years. However, various quarters from several tribes are trying to make a difference by getting their respective tribes recognised by the national as well as the international community. For instance, obtaining the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) and Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) are personal victories for the natives that deserve a night-long feast.
The films then wrap up by asking the audience to not forsake their fellow brothers and sisters on Palawan Island as they seek the same things as all humans do: health and happiness. The films call out to the people to not despise them or regard them as an inferior race but instead help their fellow Filipinos to be independent and adapt to the changes of globalisation. The last few interviews also signals the natives' accepting change by sending their children to school and also enjoying the benefits of better roads, healthcare and wellbeing.
1 comments:
You are right about the use of the us/they binary in the narrative even though the intention is to produce empathy (for the "they") the victimised tribal communities. Why do you think this strategy was used? Was it unconscious or was it based on a recognition that this in fact is the perception of mainstream Filipino society. And beginging with this (us/them) attempt to move the audience by having them recognise (1) a shared humanity, and(2) a common citizenhip.
Would it have be less productive (in terms of the political/ cultural agenda) to have insisted from the begining on the obvious but counter-intuitive starting points (shared humanity/ common citizenship and the rights on which these are based.
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