Columbans help end cultural traditions that subjugate the women of a Filipino tribe.
By Maria Benita Clamonte and Fr. Don Kill

For centuries, the Subanen people have lived in the upper elevations of Mount Malindang on the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The mountain is regarded by the Subanen as their ancestral home and the source of their strength as a tribe. The Subanen’s tribal values and practices, based on closeness to God and nature, are rooted in traditions and beliefs that have survived the test of time. Certain aspects of the Subanen culture, however, have enslaved Subanen women.

The role of Subanen women has always been to help Subanen men. This carries over into sexuality and reproduction. It is the Subanen custom for the groom’s family to shoulder all the expenses of the wedding feast and to provide a dowry to the bride’s family.

Because a man’s family pays for the wedding, women are considered the property of the husband. Women are obliged to follow every command and fulfill every demand of their husband, including satisfying the husband’s sexual desires at any time.

The role of Subanen women during social functions was, until recent years, providing entertainment to men by dancing.

But men’s sexual desires are considered normal. Women must satisfy these desires and bear and nurture the children who will become the social security for fathers when they grow old. It is also considered normal for men to have extramarital affairs.

The role of Subanen women is reduced to providing pleasure, children and economic security. At public events, their role is to dance and give pleasure to men who are present. In the family and within the community, women’s voices are not recognized, even if they have good ideas.

Subanen women have lived with this culture of repression and silence for centuries.

Healing & Organizing
Today, Columban missionaries work among these people, trying to bring a sense of dignity to the lives of the women and freeing the men from their bonds of cultural enslavement that deny the human dignity of both Subanen men and women. The time is right for the women to escape this culture of silence, and over the years we have helped them in this struggle.

The first step in the journey of these women has been to express their repressed feelings. Dedicated people, working with Columban missionaries, lend a compassionate ear to hear the cry of these marginalized children of God. Then, we help them form small groups where they can continue the work of healing and freeing themselves.

Natural leaders quickly emerge in most groups. They are encouraged to attend a women’s awareness orientation seminar where they learn how to guide the women in the journey to claiming their own voice in the community. Each step is small, but with each step, new reflections evolve and new steps are taken.

Armed with these skills, the women who attend the orientation seminar put into action what they have learned. They develop systems of discussion for their groups and help them plan action. We find the negative, life-stifling and enslaving bonds of silence begin to fall away, and the women find their voice in the face of long-standing cultural pressures.

Ideas shared by women in these groups are put into practice in their own homes. Soon, the culture of silence begins to erode. These women, the nurturers of the home and critical partners in providing a livelihood, find that they can play a vital role in the socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental development of the Mount Malindang area.

The women begin to recognize that they are indeed the source of strength in Subanen families. The recognition of their ability to help their family survive in spite of harsh economic conditions, to maintain order at home and to provide security for their children is an important step in their journey to freedom.

In 1994, Columban missionaries helped a women’s organization among the Subanen formally incorporated in Tonggo, a Misamis Occidental town whose barrios reach from the sea to the top of Mount Malindang.

Striving For Rights
The organization, registered under the Security and Exchange Commission, became known as the “United Subanen Women’s Organization.” The organization quickly spread to many towns in the province of Misamis Occidental that surround Mount Malindang.

Leaders of this organization began to consolidate the many local groups and gave focus to the role of women in community affairs.

Women’s leaders from the different towns held strategic planning meetings to draw a clearer picture of the role of Subanen women in the tribal struggle for self determination.

During those meetings, it became clear that women should demand participation in the existing Subanen socio-economic, cultural and political affairs of their communities.

The organization would help the women focus their efforts on attainable goals.

The main goals set by the women’s organization were to:

a) assert a woman’s right over her own body and strive to develop their individual, psychological, intellectual and spiritual capacities, and b) ensure gender equity in family care, livelihood provision and community management.

These women continue to develop themselves as well as their families and communities. But most of all, they continue to slowly break down the culture of silence that held them in slavery since time immemorial.