7.5.1.2 Final Report of Agta Aurora Size

DOCUMENTATION OF PHILIPPINE TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES IN HEALTH: THE AGTA PEOPLE OF SITIO DIPONTIAN, BARANGAY COZO, CASIGURAN, AURORA A collaborative project of The Agta community of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care - Department of Health (PITAHC-DOH) Institute of Herbal Medicine - National Institutes of Health - University of the Philippines Manila National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Reminder Page i Executive summary Page iii Abstract Page 1 Scope and limitation Page 3 Methodology Page 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION I. The Agta People of Casiguran Page 15 Identifying the Agta and non-Agta Page 19 II. The language of the Casiguran Agta Page 19 The richness of the language Page 20 An endangered language Page 20 III. The land of the Casiguran Agta People Page 23 IV. The livelihood of the people Page 25 V. Access to Sitio Dipontian Page 29 VI. Community facilities within and near Sitio Dipontian Page 32 VII. Interaction among the Agta and religious groups Page 33 VIII. Experiences in education Page 34 THE BUNOGEN, ALBULARYO, OR THE DOKTOR? Page 39 The Agta People of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora: Their present views on health and well-being Cosmology Page 42 Concept of God Page 42 Types of spirits Page 43 The Bélet (spirit of the deceased) Page 44 The many spirits residing on land Page 48 Types of interactions between humans and spirits Page 50 Supernatural creatures residing on land Page 52 Notions of well-being Page 55 A healthy person Page 57 Healthy food Page 58 Clean and unclean food Page 60 Éman (Betel quid) Page 61 Notions of suffering Page 63 Healing methods Page 64 The use of medicinal plants Page 64 The duphak method Page 67 Atang: giving offerings Page 69 Harm-reduction strategies Page 70 Tabi: Polite requests Page 70 Introducing a new person Page 70 Knowledge of harmful plants, animals, and humans Page 71 Dealing with natural elements Page 73 Healing methods adapted from the non-Agta Page 74 The healing practitioners Page 75 The bunogen (The Agta shaman) Page 75 Talibéng: The bunogen ritual Page 77 Becoming a bunogen: Noel Tanyet Page 79 Becoming a bunogen: Dolsing Lisiday Page 80 Becoming a bunogen: Loyda Moral Page 81 Becoming a bunogen: Tetet and Nateng Prado Page 83 Erning Moral Page 84 The non-bunogen Agta healer: Neneng dela Cruz Page 86 The non-Agta healers The albularyo Page 88 Healers with immunity against harm Page 89 The mégtetédak (mangkukulam) Page 90 Agta health practices and Christianity Page 92 The Agta and mainstream medicine Page 98 Alcoholism among the Agta Page 101 A discussion with a health worker Page 101 Conclusion Page 105 Tables of ethnopharmacological uses of natural materials Page 107 among the Agta People of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora Appendices Page 189 Appendix A. Indications recognized and corresponding plants used Page 189 Appendix B. List of medicinal plants used by the Agta of Sitio Page 205 Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora Appendix C. Bibliography Page 207 Appendix D. Bibliography of Philippine ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological, and ethnomedical studies Page 209 Appendix E. Negrito languages spoken in the Philippines Page 211 (Headland 2003) Appendix F. Agta cultural consultants/informants Page 212 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank all the Agta families and community members in Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora who gave their time and energy to the project REMINDER The indigenous knowledge and practices written in this report were obtained with full consent from cultural consultants belonging to the Agta community in Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora. Any information from this study to be used for further academic research or commercial purposes should have the free and prior informed consent of the knowledge-owners. The knowledge-owners and this study should be properly acknowledged and cited if information in this report will be used. Any commercial benefits which may arise from the utilization of the community’s indigenous knowledge should be shared with the Agta community of Casiguran, 1 Aurora or the respective Agta knowledge-owner(s). 1 Based on Elisabetsky and Posey 1994. From Posey and Dutfield 1996. Beyond Intellectual Property: Toward Traditional Resource Rights for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. p.48. Documentation of Philippine traditional knowledge and practices in health: i The Agta People of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora, 2011 Documentation of Philippine traditional knowledge and practices in health: ii The Agta People of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora, 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROJECT TITLE: DOCUMENTATION OF PHILIPPINE TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES IN HEALTH: THE AGTA PEOPLE OF CASIGURAN, AURORA AND THE DUMAGAT PEOPLE OF SAN LUIS, AURORA PROJECT LEADER: DR. ISIDRO C SIA IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Institute of Herbal Medicine, National Institutes of Health University of the Philippines Manila COOPERATING AGENCIES: The Agta Community of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora The Dumagat Community of Barangay Dibut, San Luis, Aurora National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Aurora State College of Technology DURATION: 15 MONTHS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The Philippines is one of the richest countries in terms of cultural diversity, as well as of biodiversity. There are 110 indigenous communities and 175 ethnolinguistic groups in the country. The indigenous peoples, characteristically living in the mountains or their fringes, have depended mostly on plants and other natural products from the forest to prevent or treat sickness. But environmental degradation and the onslaught of lowland mainstream cultures now threaten their healing traditions. Lifestyle change as a result of displacement from their ancestral domains and lack of supportive mechanisms to pass on knowledge are also leading to the discontinuation of their traditional healing practices. Few studies have been conducted to document the ethnopharmacological knowledge and healing practices of our indigenous peoples. Madulid of the National Museum documented the medicinal plants used by the Ati people in Nagpana, Iloilo, Panay. He has also compiled a bibliography of almost 1,000 references on Philippine ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies. The Complementary and Traditional Medicine Study Group of the National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila (NIH – UPM) and the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) documented the ethnopharmacological knowledge and healing practices of the following ethnolinguistic groups: the Isnag, Kalinga, Ifugao, Kankana-ey, and Ibaloi peoples of the Cordillera; the Bugkalot people of Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya; the Kabulowan, Tagibulos, and Idimala Agtas of Sierra Madre; the Ayta people of Morong, Bataan; the Tadyawan, and Alangan Mangyans of Mindoro; the Pala’wan, Batak, and Tagbanua peoples of Palawan; and the Ata Manobo, Bagobo, Mansaka, Mandaya, and Dibabaon peoples of Mindanao. Maramba in “Medicinal plants: their role in health and biodiversity,” reported that in 1978 to 1983, Quintana conducted a nationwide documentation of traditional healers and medicinal plants used. Maramba and Dayrit reported that out of this survey, 120 medicinal plants were chosen for priority studies by the National Integrated Research Program on Medicinal Plants. Documentation of Philippine traditional knowledge and practices in health: iii The Agta People of Sitio Dipontian, Barangay Cozo, Casiguran, Aurora, 2011 Landa Jocano did his seminal work on the healing traditions of Bay, Laguna from 1968 to 1973. Documentation of healing traditions has likewise been done by Filipino anthropologists Abaya, Estacio, Padilla, Tan, and the Community Medicine Foundation. The documentation previously done, though seemingly numerous, is not enough to cover the breadth and depth of the immense body of traditional knowledge held by our indigenous peoples. For one, the more than 20 Negrito (Ayta/Agta/Alta/Ata) groups have been represented in only 3 studies listed in this review. As a group of peoples, they are the most vulnerable to losing their oral traditions because of the harsh conditions they are living in, the onslaught of mainstream cultures to the detriment of the local culture, and the lack of supportive mechanisms to pass on their traditions to the younger generations. Four Negrito languages are now considered extinct; with the loss of the language of a people, the people’s traditional knowledge is also lost. The ethnographic and ethnopharmacological study of the Agta people of Casiguran, Aurora and the Dumagat people of San Luis, Aurora, is a component of the Documentation of Philippine Traditional Knowledge and Practices in Health Program. This project aims to conserve both the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the indigenous communities and ethnolinguistic groups in the country. Documenting with the indigenous communities their health traditions may contribute in upholding their knowledge and practices. It is a way to transfer the healing traditions to succeeding generations. Indigenous elders may pass away but the community can still refer to the documentation for their ancestors’ health practices. The project recognizes that the ancestral domain of our indigenous peoples is a rich source of potentially useful pharmacologic

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