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First Posted on Inside Mindanao: October 8, 2006

Finding Home
By Ellen Red

CORTES, SURIGAO DEL SUR-There are two individuals using the name "Carmelito Plaza" in barangay Mabahin, town of Cortes, in this province.

Map of Mindanao showing the areas inhabited by the Mamanwa tribe, particularly the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur. One Carmelito Plaza, at six o'clock in the morning, would start walking to his farm in the mountains, till the land, and starts walking back to his coastal home before sun down.

The other Carmelito Plaza is one of the few fishermen in the area who does not use fishing boats. He just swims when fishing from sun up to sun down.

These two Carmelito Plazas are members of a small band of Mamanwa, this writer met at the Mamanwa resettlement area in Mabahin, an area provided by the government.

Datu Carmelito Montenegro, the Mamanwa tribal leader in Mabahin, told Inside Mindanao that possessing a "full name" is new to the Mamanwa. Oftentimes, the names are just adopted from the name of a wedding sponsor. Thus, giving explanation to the two Carmelito Plazas in Mabahin.

Of the 31 ethno-linguistic groups in Mindanao, the Mamanwa is the easiest to recognize. This is because of their looks: dark-skinned, curly hair and average in height-above five feet for both men and women.

Based on the year 2002 census conducted by the Surigao del Sur Office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), there were 737 pure Mamanwa individuals in the three towns of the province: Lanuza, Cortes and Tandag.

Gliceto Dagondon, executive director of a non-government organization Green Mindanao, reported that an estimated 1,000 Mamanwa families are left in the Northeastern part of Mindanao, particularly in Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Agusan del Norte.

An observer for years of the Mamanwa tribe, Mr. Dagondon said the Mamanwa live by small bands.

He said that about 120 Mamanwa families thrive in the municipalities of Lanuza, Cortes, and Tandag.

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