Lumad Husay (Indigenous Conciliation) Decolonizing Justice & Re-storying Culture in Mindanao, Philippines Jeremy Simons A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy At Te Whare Wānanga o Otago/University of Otago Aotearoa New Zealand June 2021 i Abstract In 2016 a consortium of Lumad indigenous activists articulated husay (conciliation/mediation) as a cultural platform for non-violent political assertion, as well as an umbrella symbol of Lumad legal cultural resurgence on the island of Mindanao (Philippines). In this research I describe key historic, contextual, and cultural (both internal and external) factors in the emergence of this social movement by Lumad peace and justice experts and their allies over the past two decades. This study unearths some of the historic and contemporary symbols, motifs, and meanings undergirding Lumad forms of justice, how they came to be contested in current circumstances, and the dynamics, nuances, and implications of their transformation. With a focus on Lumad engagements in formal government-rebel peace processes, the evolution of collective action by this cohort of Lumad peace practitioners, activists, and peoples’ organizations in the early 2000s is articulated as a Lumad Peace Movement. Factors that facilitated this cultural revival included demographic changes in the religious affiliation of Lumad communities, the growth of Mindanao-wide conflict transformation initiatives, formal government-rebel peace processes, and the emergence of a rival, Military-Lumad counter- insurgency alliance epitomized by Task Force Gantangan. The responses and interactions of Lumad leaders negotiating external social factors and the internal cultural dynamics of husay, as Lumad legal culture, I suggest, evidences a local form of complexity called kalibugan. Lumad legal agency in the context of kalibugan involved mobilizing and asserting epics and narratives connecting customary traditions with current peace practices across various identities, ecologies, and geographies of justice. This research involved storying (saysay) and historicizing (kasaysayan) local iterations of justice and peace with Lumad and non-Lumad partners through auto-ethnographic accompaniment, qualitative methodology, and textual meta-analysis. As a form of collaborative and appreciative action research within the Lumad Peace Movement, I related two case studies of Aromanon and Teduray Lumad practitioners’ engagement with state and non-state actors through their use and modification of indigenous cultural concepts, motifs, and narratives. The case studies show how tribal leaders have adapted unique tribal forms of husay to address conflict, violence, trauma, and injustice across a spectrum of social conflict – interpersonal, ideological, communal, and intergenerational. This inquiry is a response to the lack of focused study on Lumad peace traditions and their current use and deployment in post-modern contexts, especially in formal peace processes and insurgency-counter insurgency contexts. Framing the recent history of a Lumad Peace ii Movement as a contemporary cultural resurgence of indigenous legal culture is a novel contribution to Lumad studies and indigenous scholarship more broadly. The relevance and value of this research is that it extends the articulation of peace movement histories by Lumad leaders and allies engaged in justice and peacebuilding efforts in Mindanao. In particular, it highlights the strategies that Lumad activists and their supporters have used to engage formal government institutions, rebel actors, and peace processes. The study helps reclaim, document, and historicize Lumad models of peace and justice activism, social movement action, right to self-determination assertions, and indigenous political agency. Field research was conducted between 2018-2019, following over 20 years in the Philippines, including residence in Mindanao from 2008-2017. iii Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Acknowledgements viii Tables and Figures ix Glossary x Abbreviations & Acronyms xi CHAPTER ONE – Introduction 1 § Lumad Geographies of Peace, Conflict, Culture, and Struggle in Mindanao 3 § Research Position, Partners, and Methodology 9 § Culture and Justice in Legal and Transitional Contexts 10 § Indigenous Marginalization in Social Movement Literatures 12 § Lumad in Mindanao's Peacebuilding Discourses 13 § Implications of the Uneven Peacebuilding Discourse on Mindanao's Peace 17 § Lumad and Mindanao (non-Moro) Indigenous Peoples Studies 19 § Overview of the Research 22 CHAPTER TWO - An Ecology of Research: Biography, Worldview, and Paradigm Pluralism 26 Subsection A: The Proto-researcher - Excavating Biography and Worldview through Reflexivity and Storytelling 27 § Locating Myself in an Intellectual, Emotional, and Cultural Research Ecology 31 § The Labours of Intersectional Reflexivity, Transformative Storytelling, and Constructive Marginality 33 Subsection B: Personalizing Paradigms and Contextualizing Processes 42 § Researcher Motivation, Intent, and Worldview 42 § Constructivism/Interpretivism 45 § Transformativism 46 § Participatory and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Paradigm 47 § Indigenous Research Paradigms 49 CHAPTERE THREE - Inquiry Praxis: Accompaniment in Co-constructed Inquiry 53 § JustPeace Ethics 54 iv § Research as Relating: Indigenizing Processes and Partnerships in Mindanao 56 § Bricoleurs and Accompaniers: Inquiry Design, Ethos, and Strategies 67 § Inquiry Organizing, Methods, and Challenges in the Field 75 § Background to the Bangsamoro Transformative Justice Initiative (BTJI) 82 § Data Gathering, Data Inclusion, and Meta-data 85 § BTJI Research Design and Methodology 92 § Conclusion 93 CHAPTER FOUR - Lumad Justice: Local Knowledge, National Law, Global Theory 95 § Out to the Margins, Back to the Future 95 § Who are the Lumad? 97 § Contexts of Lumad Struggles: Colonization, Nationalism, and Transitional Justice 101 § Culture and Ethnicity in Peace and Conflict Studies 102 § Mapping Peacebuilding Terrains: Positive Peace and the Justice and Culture Gaps 107 § Cognitive Justice, “Lawfare” and Revolution 111 § Lumad Agency, Identity, and Legal Pluralism 114 § Postmodernism and Law 119 § Conclusion 122 CHAPTER FIVE - Lumad Husay as Legal Theory 125 § Husay and Hustisya – Connection or Disjunction? 125 § Towards Everyday Leadership: Customary Law and Cultural Innovation 127 § Kalibugan: Lumad Justice, Social Movement Theory, and Sacred Legal Culture 129 § Why Husay? 136 § The Formation of Lumad Husay Mindanao 137 CHAPTER SIX - The Contours of Lumad Legal Culture 142 § Lumad Peacemaking Roles and Titles 142 § Principles and Values 144 § Leadership in Legal Culture: Collective Conciliation and the Multi-datu System 146 § Bangon, Restitution, and Community Restoration 149 § The Objective of Lumad Justice: Restoration of Relationships 153 § Holistic Healing: The Ecological-Social-Psychology of Leadership Ascription 155 § Processes of Justice 157 v § Summary, Analysis, and Conclusion 158 CHAPTER SEVEN - Husay, Community Accountability, and Revolutionary Justice 163 § Lumad Legal Culture in Governance – The Case of Mayor Ramon Piang Sr. 164 § A Teduray Model and the State System 168 § The Katarungang Pambarangay (KP)/Barangay Justice System (BJS) 172 § Lumad Legal Culture and Community Justice Pluralism in Mindanao 175 § Revolutionary Justice 180 § Revolutionary Justice and its Discontents 185 § Collective Accountability: Salà and Institutional and Systemic Injustice 188 § Conclusion 191 CHAPTER EIGHT - Factions and Refractions: Faith and Culture in the Lumad Social Movement 194 § Origins of the Post-colonial Lumad Social Movement 194 § Lumad Social Movement: From Revolution to Regeneration 201 § The Fracturing of the Lumad Social Movement 207 § Indigenizing Counter-insurgency: Lumad in the Radical Right 210 § Lumad and the Radical Left 214 § Conclusion 216 CHAPTER NINE - Genealogies of Justice in the Lumad Peace Movement 220 § Kalibugan Theory and Storywork 220 § The External Matrix of Lumad Justice and Peacebuilding in the New Millennium 222 § Evolving Vernaculars of Peace: The Transformation of Panagtagbo 225 § Lumad Legends and Storywork as Lumad Peace Movement Culture and Praxis 231 § Conclusion: Lumad Storytelling as Justice and Cultural Resurgence 234 CHAPTER TEN – Case Studies 237 § Study One: Aromanon Manobo-Maguindanaoan Community Peace Pacts as Lumad Peace Process 239 § Study 2: Reclaiming the Mt. Firis Complex - The Journey of the Tёduray and Lambangian Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples 249 § Case Studies Meta-Analysis 256 vi § Conclusion 260 CHAPTER ELEVEN – Conclusion 261 § Reflections on Methodology 261 § Transposing Husay: Lumad Legal Culture for a Lumad Peace Movement 266 § The Historical Anthropology of Lumad Legal Culture 268 § Kalibugan Theory Updated 272 § Revisiting Culture, Continuum, and Coverage 277 § Lumad Peace Movement, Gantangan, and the Indigenization of Social Theory 281 § Narrative Justice and Cultural Survival 282 § Final Thoughts 284 APPENDIX 286 A.1 Excerpts from Lumad Husay Mindanao Meeting Aug. 17-18, 2016 286 A.2 Research Invitation Letter 288 A.3 Research Consent Form, Information, and Interview/Discussion Prompts 289 A.4 Bangsamoro Transformative Justice Initiatives (BTJI) Activity Schedule 292 A.5 Bangsamoro Transformative Justice Initiatives Methodology Excerpt 293 A.6 Context: Antecedents of Legal Change and Continuity in Mindanao History 295 A.7 Transitional Justice 315 A.8 2003 MOU Between Datu Joel Unad and the Armed Forces of the Philippines 324