Stereotypes That Divide, Transformations That Can Unite by Mary Kathleen S

Stereotypes that Divide, Transformations that can Unite by Mary Kathleen S. Bueza & Si! i Rhaihan K. Malik 3333 How do Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos view each other? In the South of the Philippines, in between Tawi-tawi and Basilan, the province of Sulu is land to these three groups. In our aim to contribute to peacebuilding in Mindanao, we looked at the a! itudes of these three groups to each other. Our study found that Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos generally have positive a! itudes toward each other, with Bisayas seen most positively. However, negative stereotypes persist about Tausugs and Badjaos. How can these stereotypes be transformed towards building peace in Sulu? A Background on Sulu " e Sulu archipelago boasts beautiful islands that form a continuous chain in the southern Philippines. It is located halfway between the Zamboanga Peninsula and the island province of Tawi-Tawi. Its major islands are Jolo, Siasi, and Tawi-Tawi (Teo, 1989). According to the 2007 Census of the Population, the province of Sulu has a total population of 849,670, with 140,307 people living in Jolo, the provincial capital. " e name Sulu came from the Malayan word Suluk, meaning current, as it is surrounded by the Sulu Sea in the northeast and the Celebes Sea in the southeast. " e natives call it Lupa Sug, meaning Land of the Current. Its capital, Jolo, is called by the locals as Tiyanggi Sug or simply Tiyanggi, meaning market. Islam is entrenched in the history of Sulu and its natives, the Tausugs. It was Sayeed Abubakar, an Arabian missionary from Johore, Malaysia, who became the Sultan of Sulu in the 13th century and proclaimed Islam as the o# cial political and social institution of the sultanate. Other than Tausugs, other groups living in Sulu are the Bisayas (Lara & Champaign, 2009), and Badjaos (Teo, 1989). 343 MeaningMeana ining MMaMakingakiingn iinn MiMindanaondn ana ao Research Process A scale to measure people’s a! itude to Tausugs, Bisayas, and Tausug literally means “people of the Badjaos was developed using the method of Shah (1999). current” (Abdulla, 1989; Bruno, 1973). " is method in constructing an a! itude scale uses trait " ey are believers of Islam and their faith adjectives gathered from the target population. " ese trait is central to their identity and way of life. adjectives are common words people use to describe the Although there are people who a! est three groups. Each adjective has a corresponding numerical that Tausugs are hospitable, friendly, value to evaluate if the a! itude to each group is positive or and peaceful unless provoked, there are negative. A scale containing 20 trait adjectives (10 positive also those who view them negatively and and 10 negative) was developed. Below is the $ nal list of identify them as bloodthirsty, suspicious, adjectives that were included in the $ nal Shah Scale: vindictive, hot- headed, treacherous, anti- government, thief, bandit, or savage (Bruno, Amoy isda Binabale-wala 1973). In Philippine history, they were called Maalaga Maasikaso sa pamilya moros (non-Christians) during the Spanish Mabuti Madaling mahalin rule in the Philippines and were identi$ ed as juramentados (Muslim warriors who Magalang Magaling sa negosyo targeted and a! acked Christian police and Mamamatay-tao Mapagkakatiwalaan soldiers) during the American period. In Mapang-abuso Mapangutya sa kapwa contemporary times, Tausugs are described as pirates or warlike people (Bruno, 1973). Masungit Matalino Matiyaga Matulungin " e current knowledge about Bisayas as Pabaya sa anak Padalos-dalos a group is unclear and do not provide a wholistic view of their identity. For instance, Palaasa Walang pinag-aralan Tausugs were said to have treated Bisayas as With the assistance provided by the NDJC Peace Center, slaves during the height of the Sulu sultanate 90 participants (45 males and 45 females), 16 to 48 years because they were not its original inhabitants old, took part in the study. 30 Tausugs, 30 Bisayas, and 30 (Glionna, 2009; Larousse, 2001; Warren, Badjaos were asked to answer three a! itude scales. " ey 1999). Others claimed that Bisayas were were asked to check the adjectives that best describe not slaves but outsiders who entered the Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos. Statistical analyses, namely, the Sulu sultanate as migrants who engaged in analysis of variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analysis (DA), business (Lara & Champaign, 2009). were then conducted. Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos: ! e People of Sulu “…85 % of the total Around 85 % of the total population in Sulu classify themselves as Tausugs. Samal-Badjaos, population in Sulu classify on the other hand, make up 12%. Lastly, Bisayas who are migrant from di% erent ethnic themselves as Tausugs.” origins from the north of Sulu, make up about 3% of the total Sulu population (Province of Sulu, 2012). 35 " e third group of people in Sulu consists of the Badjaos. Badjaos are described as quiet people who want to be le& on their own, who live simply in their huts by the sea and engage in $ shing for food (Glionna, 2009). Badjaos “Among the three groups, are sometimes referred to as Samal-Badjaos or Samal Luwaan, meaning “outcast.” Badjaos it is the Bisayas as a group are the smallest ethnic group in Sulu. " ey who are always viewed are harmless, peaceful, seemingly contented and happy people who do not demand for positively.” privileges from the government and consider the sea as most important for their survival. Badjaos remain to be poor due to their lack of aspirations and indi% erence to education and technology (Teo ,1989). However, one of the six adjectives used to describe all three groups was negative. " is In our aim to contribute to peacebuilding in trait was mapangutya sa kapwa (cynical of Sulu and to gain a be! er understanding of others) Another negative adjective, padalos- the intergroup relations among its people, dalos (rash), was used to describe Badjaos we conducted a study that investigated the and Tausugs but was never used to describe a! itudes of Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos Bisayas. towards themselves and each other. Among the three groups, it is the Bisayas as Intergroup A" itudes and Stereotypes a group who are always viewed positively. Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos generally have " is is based on the results that the adjectives positive a! itudes toward each other. In our used by the respondents to describe Bisayas study, all the respondents had a positive are all positive. " is means that Tausugs and overall rating of each group. " is means that Badjaos always have positive views of Bisayas. as a whole, Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos view each other in a positive light. While our $ ndings re' ect that overall a! itudes toward the three groups are In terms of their overall rating, Bisayas positive and several positive adjectives are received the highest score. Tausugs came shared by Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos, our second. And Badjaos third. " is implies results also indicate that there are negative that the people of Jolo view Bisayas most stereotypes. In particular, a number of positively, followed by Tausugs, and Badjaos respondents ascribed negative traits to least positively. Still, all groups were viewed Tausugs and Badjaos. positively. Negative adjectives associated with Tausugs Six adjectives were commonly used to are mamamatay-tao (assasin/killer), mapang- describe Tausugs, Bisayas, and Badjaos. Five abuso (abusive), and masungit (short- of the six adjectives were positive. " ese are: tempered). However, despite these negative mabuti (kind), magaling sa negosyo (business- stereotypes, the general a! itude towards savvy), mapagkakatiwalaan (trustworthy), Tausugs is positive. matalino (intelligent), and matulungin (helpful). Negative adjectives were also associated with the Badjaos. " e traits amoy isda (smell 36 Meaning Making in Mindanao like $ sh), binabale-wala (taken for granted), for Bisayas to play an active role in bringing pabaya sa anak (neglec( ul of child/ren), and the Tausug and Badjao groups together walang pinag-aralan (uneducated) were the to build and maintain peace in their most common adjectives ascribed to Badjaos. communities. With the help of government However, despite these negative stereotypes, and nongovernment organizations as well as the general a! itude towards Badjaos is humanitarian groups, Bisayas can capitalize positive. on their positive image among the di% erent groups of people in Sulu by initiating Bisayas was the only group that was not peacebuilding e% orts and encouraging associated with any negative trait in our their Tausug and Badjao counterparts to study. Using the items checked by the participate in their endeavor to achieve participants in the scale to describe Bisayas, peace and sustain it in their own communities. the trait adjectives that were commonly used are maalaga (caring), maasikaso (a! entive Transforming Negative Stereotypes to others’ needs), madaling mahalin, and Another way of learning from this study matiyaga (persevering). " e respondents in is making the people of Sulu aware of our study also had the highest positive overall the stereotypes they have of each other. a! itude scores towards Bisayas as a group. Awareness can lead to an understanding of why these stereotypes exist. Awareness Highlighting Positive A" itudes can also lead to $ nding ways on how to not We conducted this study with the aim of let these stereotypes divide groups. For contributing to peacebuilding in Sulu by example, with the awareness that it is part understanding the intergroup a! itudes of Badjao culture to live by the sea shore among its people, the Tausugs, Bisayas, and or on their boats to catch $ sh for a living, Badjaos. " e results of this study may be Tausugs and Bisayas can be! er understand used to achieve these goals by coming up why Badjaos are amoy isda (smell like $ sh) and with community interventions to facilitate not take that trait against them.

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