Young Manobo datu from Agusan del Sur promotes culture on ‘Bawal Judgmental’

A young datu from the Manobo tribe in Agusan del Sur is one of the participants on Eat Bulaga’s “Bawal Judgmental” on Tuesday.

According to Aljun “Pogs” Cayawan, he is the youngest datu of his tribe and known as the “prince of responsibility.”

In an interview with Paolo Ballesteros and Jose Manalo, Pogs talked about what it meant to be a datu.

“Magiging datu ka if makikitaan ka ng responsibility at nata-transfer ito from your mga lola, or mga eldest, tina-transfer yung title,” he said.

Pogs said his name was Datu Agung, which he inherited from his grandmother Bai Agung.

“Sa tribe there are council of elders. ’Yun ’yung tawag kasi nirerespeto namin yung mga matatanda sa amin, kasi iniisip namin sila ’yung mas nakakaalam sa tradisyon at kultura,” he explained.

According to Pogs, their tribe does not follow a hierarchy. “Tingin namin sa lahat pantay-pantay kami. Pero during, like, may conflict, may tinatawag kami chief and supreme datu, sila yung taga-resolve ng problema.”

Pogs was a scholar who took up marketing management and graduated in 2017, the same year he became a datu.

When asked how he became a scholar, Pogs said: “Pinasok kasi yung bundok namin ng mining, tapos ang kapalit noon magpapaaral ng estudyanteng katutubo at isa ako sa napili para makapag-aral.”

He said the responsibility of a datu was to “to protect your people first, maintain their culture.”

Pogs said they practiced traditions and cultures passed down from generation to generation, “parang ’yun ’yung pagiging datu, parang simbulo ng isang tribo.”

Pogs, who considered himself a modern datu, said he wanted to promote his culture to preserve it.

“I want to promote our culture kasi nawawala na kasi kami. Isa sa pinakamasakit, napagsabihan ’yung tribo namin na baka sa libro na lang makita sa future,” he said.

According to the datu, he is on “Eat Bulaga” to share to the world that their culture and practice is still alive.

“We’re still here, nakikipagsabayan sa kahit ano mang nangyayari sa paligid, sa teknolohiya. Hindi kami mabubura at ’yun ang gusto kong i-share sa mga kabataan na kagaya ko na nakaranas ng diskriminasyon,” he said.

Pogs said that one of the reasons why some of the members of their tribe were hesitant to go to cities was because of the discrimination they experienced.

“Nadi-discriminate kasi iba ako, iba ’yung tingin ... pero ’yun ’yung naging drive ko to study. Kasi gusto ko pakita sa tribo as my responsibility bilang datu, pakita ko sa kanila na hindi hadlang ang pagiging katutubo or sa tingin ng iba kakaiba kami,” he said.

“Bawal Judgemental” trended on local Twitter as it featured indigenous people during the segment on Tuesday. – Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/RC, GMA News