Unveiling the Tausug Culture in Parang Sabil through Translation

Translation communicates through language and facilitates the spread of information and culture.It is a conscious semantic transfer of culturalitems from one culture to another. In this paper, it aims to unveil the culture of the Tausugs, the people of Sulu, Philippines, in doing the jihad (holy war) through the translation of the parang sabil, a folk narrative song. Anchored on the interpretative theory of translation, this study translates the contemporary parang sabil titled Kissa sin Pagbunu ha Zambo written in Bahasa Sug, a language spoken among the Tausugs, into English. Performed by the Tausug lady named Indah Anjam, Kissa sin Pagbunu ha Zambo (The Story of War in Zambo) talks about the heroic act of Ustadz Habir Malik during the Zamboanga siege in 2013. By mobilizing the researchers’ knowledge in Bahasa Sug, English, and Tausug history and culture, linguistic and cultural issues were addressed in the English translation to maintain the sense or culture of doing the Tausug jihad. The researchers faithfully expressed in the English translation the culture of the Tausugs by maintaining the identity of the Tausugs as Muslims, by showing that the Tausugs are in unity to defend their homeland and religion, and by projecting that they are brave warriors in defense of Islam. Hence, translating this particular Tausug parang sabil placed in its cultural context is an urgent work to do in order to enlarge our consciousness on Tausug culture and history.

Growth Response of Abaca (Musa textilis Nee) in Abandoned Mine Soil Amended with Oil Palm Residues

The mining industry is one of the leading sectors providing economic benefit to the community. However, mining minerals inevitably affect the ecosystem function of the land, thereby reducing ecological services provided to mankind. Soil remediation is done to restore ecological integrity while mitigating degradation processes. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the chemical properties of abandoned mine soil and to determine the effects of oil palm residues on the growth performance of abaca (Hybrid 7) grown in mined soil under nursery conditions. This study was arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with five treatments and four replications, namely, T1 - Mined Soil Alone, T2 - Garden Soil Alone, T3 - Mined soil + Oil Palm Sludge, T4 - Mined Soil + Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Biochar, T5 – Mined Soil + Oil Palm Vermicast. Chemical analysis of mined soil revealed extreme acidic soil condition, low organic matter, CEC, N, K, and high P content relative to soil nutrient sufficiency criteria. Mined soil contained 0.347 mg/kg Cd and 0.230 mg/kg Pb which are within the tolerable limit of 2.00 mg/ kg for Cd and 300 mg/kg (Pb), respectively. Application of oil palm residues in mined soil can significantly improve the morphology and dry matter yield performance of hybrid 7 abaca seedlings. Plants grown in mined soil amended with oil palm residues were taller, larger pseudostem girth with more and bigger functional leaves, and had a higher survival rate compared to those grown in soil derived from the abandoned mining area. Abaca plants grown with amendments had accumulated higher dry matter. Oil palm residues particularly vermicast has greater potential as soil amendment under degraded mined in Mawab, Davao de Oro.

Sama Culture and Folk Narratives Structures

The understanding of a folk narrative lies in the underlying principles that govern its composition. This study focuses on structures and culture found in the folk narratives of Sama, an indigenous group in Island Garden City of Samal, Philippines. The paper uses the theory on narratology by French-Lithuanian literary theorist, Algirdas Julien Greimas, and cultural theory by Bronislaw Malinowski to analyze the selected Sama folk narratives. The study reveals that the ten (10) Sama folk narratives collected do not completely follow the theory on narratology of Greimas. This is because the theories used are foreign and the folk literature collected are of local origin. Regardless of this, the study shows that Sama folk narratives reflected the ways of their people. Consequently, Sama folk narratives exemplify their cultural practices. They present social, economic, political, and religious practices. The leaders from the Sama folk were requested to validate the cultural texts gathered for this study. This research highlights the structure of Sama literature and illustrates Sama’s cultural heritage by gathering and analyzing their folk narratives so that the rest of the population (the new generation) could have the chance to experience their culture and appreciate it. Also, the researcher further emphasizes the relevance of gathering and using local literature to prevent it from vanishing into oblivion.

Ethno-bamboo Approaches to the Pala’wan in the Mangrove Area of Palawan Island, the Philippines

Bamboo is an important resource in Southeast Asia, which is a hotspot of bamboo species diversity globally, and has historically contributed to livelihoods in various environments. Subsistence livelihoods are still widely found in Southeast Asia, especially in isolated villages, and various kinds of plant resources, including bamboo, support local livelihoods. Understanding the relationship between human society and plants is important to understand the historical process of expansion and adaptation of human society in Southeast Asia; however, despite its importance, information on bamboo utilization remains limited. A field survey was conducted in a village located in the mangrove area of Palawan Island, the Philippines. The residents were the Pala’wan. Data was obtained through participatory observation and interview survey to at least 30 villagers. In the village, 10 bamboo species, both wild and cultivated, were utilized for various purposes, with a large and specific demand for bamboo of cultivated species. These species are medium to large in size, and some are distributed widely both inmainland and insular Southeast Asia. These bamboo species are considered to have been brought by Southeast Asian people along with other useful plants and have adapted to the new environment. To understand the long-term relationship between Asian people and plants, it is necessary to consider bamboo, and multidisciplinary integration of knowledge, which can be called as the “ethno-bamboo approach,” can uncover new aspects of this relationship.

The Conventional and Modern Uses of Water Buffalo Milk in the Philippines

In Southeast Asia, milking of livestock is not common. In the Philippines, water buffalo (carabao) milk has been used since the Spanish colonial period of the 16th century. Milk is processed into cheese (kesong puti) or candy (pastillas). These customs are found in a few areas on the Islands of Luzon and Visayas. However, in 1996, following the launch of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), the uses of modern milk have been practiced nationwide using Murrah (buffalo), which produces more milk than a carabao. This paper analyzes the dairy transition currently occurring in the Philippines from the conventional uses of carabao milk to the modern uses of Murrah milk. Intensive fieldwork was broadly conducted in conventional and modern milk use areas of the country, with water buffalo management and milk use systems researched using participatory observation and interview methods. This study delves into how the conventional uses of water buffalo milk have helped support the livelihood of special farmers and whether recent government-backed projects, such as enhancing the ability of water buffaloes to produce milk, have made carabaos dispensable. The shift to modern milk uses, which relies on buffalo milk, has become a national project, in order to improve the subsistence of peasant farmers. This paper concludes that the modern dairy farming of Murrah is becoming popular in farming societies close to the PCC and that the dairy culture has changed from being a minor conventional regional system to a major industrial farming and business system to sustain the lives of local small-scale farmers.

A Study of Bagobo Tagabawa Folk Speech Using Murdock’s and Eugenio’s Classification

Around 60, 000 in number, the Bagobo people constitute one of the indigenous peoples in Davao, Philippines. This study analyzes the Bagobo Tagabawa folk speech, specifically their proverbs and riddles. Also, this study aims to help in preserving the Bagobo Tagabawa folk speech and fostering a better understanding and appreciation of their life, literature, and people. The researcher analyzed the 90 proverbs and the 97 riddles in form and style using the classification of the riddles of George P. Murdock and the category of proverbs used by Damiana Eugenio. The concept of cultural anthropology by Franz Boas was employed in the study to determine the cultural contents of each literary piece of the said indigenous group. Findings reveal that the Bagobo people have rich and varied folk literature, constituting an important part of Philippine national literature that could vanish amid modernization. This study has contributed to the preservation of the cultural materials of the Bagobo Tagabawa. Thus, it is hoped that it will make it easier for non-Bagobo Filipinos and the rest of the world to know and appreciate Bagobo folk speech. Furthermore, the researcher recommends that this study be disseminated among folklore enthusiasts to enrich the Bagobo Tagabawa folk speech analysis. This research can help the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) promote, protect, and recognize the culture of the indigenous peoples, particularly in the territory of Mindanao.

A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Isamal Ergatives: Movement in Ergative Structures

Isamal is an Austronesian language spoken by around 8,000 indigenous people of Samal Island, Mindanao, Philippines. Fieldwork has shown that every speaker of Isamal is bilingual in Cebuano, the most dominant language in the island with a population of 104,123 according to Philippine Census (2015). This paper deals with the morphosyntax of Isamal ergatives, and analysis is made using the Minimalist Program with focus on the movement of elements in the structure. Verb morphology is given a description to lend a hand in the analytical scrutiny of the projections of the lexical information encoded in the argument and thematic structures of the verbs. Like all ergatives, Isamal ergatives have only one argument, that is, the theme-DP. There are three primary syntactic structures that are analyzed in this paper, namely, VP, TP, and CP. With the employment of the Minimalist Program for analysis, movement in the ergative structures shows that verbs, arguments and adjuncts can move.

Comparative Ergative and Accusative Structures in Three Philippine Languages

Cebuano, Filipino, and Isamal are classified as Austronesian languages that are spoken in the Philippines. This paper deals with the comparative ergative and accusative structures of the aforementioned languages with focus on the syntactic relations and processes. The varieties of these languages are the ones used in Samal Island, Davao, Philippines. Aimed at the structural configurations, the verb phrase (VP) and the tense phrase (TP) are analytically scrutinized as the cartographic projections of the lexical information encoded in the argument structures and the thematic structures of the verbs. With the employment of the Minimalist Program in the analysis, the computation includes the movement, checking of features, and assignment of theta roles within the structures of the three languages. Findings include the (1) similarity of structural relations and processes in the VP and the TP of the three languages, (2) movement of the verb from the VP to the TP, and (3) merger of the verb complements occur in the VP that ensures the local assignment of theta roles and the checking of cases.

Crocodiles in Philippine Folklore

This study investigates Philippine folklore of saltwater crocodiles to understand the relationships that people have with them from an anthropological perspective. The collected folklore was classified into eight types: 1) ancestor, 2) monkey heart, 3) red hen, 4) execution, 5) incarnation, 6) deception, 7) monster, and 8) Lusmore. The analysis shows that the crocodile folklore of the Philippines is strongly connected to that of the indigenous people in Borneo. Filipino people tend to recognize crocodiles as both fierce and foolish because they are harmful to their society. In their history, they have rigorously hunted crocodiles for their skin, causing their relationship with them to significantly diminish over time. However, crocodiles are also seen as having the supernatural power to cure sick people, so eating them is prohibited among the Pala’wan on Palawan Island, for instance. This paper concludes that the Filipino people and the crocodile were able to build a harmonious relationship of coexistence in the past, and the current corrupted relationship must change for its future wellbeing.

Chiropteran Composition and Morphometric Analysis of Ptenochirus Jagori in Caraga State University, Caraga Region, Philippines

Due to potential and present ecological alteration in roosting sites and food source areas in neighboring vicinity of Caraga State University in Caraga Region, Philippines, unsettled progression of bats are documented through wing variation analysis and fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Twenty-one (21) collected samples of Ptenochirus jagori (Greater Musky Fruit Bat) yields asymmetry of 90.6396%, affecting landmarks of the elbow (landmark 1), carpals (landmark 2), metacarpals (landmark 3, 4, and 10), and phalanges’ fingers (landmarks 5, 6, 11, and 12). Wing variation (landmark-based) analysis suggested significant skewness on both elbows and metacarpals of wings. Wider shape deformation is on the rightwing, and a narrower one was analyzed on the left. Nonetheless, even though similar alteration is present between both wings, Canonical Variation Analysis (CVA) suggests no significant difference in the deformations of histogram analysis.