{"id":5980,"date":"2020-06-09T08:26:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T08:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=5980"},"modified":"2020-06-09T08:28:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T08:28:49","slug":"tiis-pilipit-mangyan-tribesmen-tamaraw-threatened-by-hunger-and-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/tiis-pilipit-mangyan-tribesmen-tamaraw-threatened-by-hunger-and-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiis pilipit: Mangyan tribesmen, tamaraw threatened by hunger and disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SPECIAL REPORT BY GREGG YAN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old chief exhaled and the hut was enveloped in blue smoke. \u201cI remember,\u201d whispered Fausto Novelozo<\/strong>, chief of the Taw\u2019buid <\/em>tribe. \u201cThat a sickness drove us from the mountains. Measles we got from siganon<\/em> or lowland visitors. Half our village of 200 died.\u201d <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re in the village of Tamisan Dos, one of two newly-established Mangyan communities at the foothills of the Iglit-Baco Natural Park in the province of Mindoro Occidental. Measles drove Fausto\u2019s people closer to town, where they can have better access to western medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people don\u2019t consider disease a major threat to biodiversity. But diseases ranging from Coronavirus to African Swine Fever and Ebola have spread worldwide, taking thousands of lives and causing billions in economic damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the reclusive Taw\u2019buid<\/em>, death and disease are part of life, hindering them from protecting an animal they revere \u2013 the critically-endangered tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis)<\/em>, only 600 of which remain today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Environmentalist Gregg Yan helps various institutions share stories from the field. (Ramil Lumanglas) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Living deep in forests, tribal communities are plagued not just by blood-sucking leeches, malarial mosquitoes and venomous snakes \u2013 but a lack of clean water, poor sanitation, poor nutrition and inadequate medical knowledge. With hospitals often several days\u2019 journey away, many ailing tribesfolk die on their way to treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaria, tuberculosis, measles and other diseases have always taken a steady toll on Mindoro\u2019s Mangyan population, estimated at 200,000. About 60% of Mangyan children are malnourished and almost all go hungry during the rainy season which lasts from June to October. With torrential rains turning Mindoro\u2019s streams into raging rivers, many cannot visit their upland ricefields and must hunt or gather whatever food they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe call this period tiis-pilipit<\/em><\/strong> (to twist in hunger) and we must make do,\u201d says Taw\u2019buid<\/em> gatherer Robar, tiredly raising the day\u2019s catch. \u201cWe are lucky. We caught some rats and frogs today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
 Taw\u2019buid gatherer Robar showing the catch of the day \u2013 rats and frogs. Heavy rain makes traveling through the mountains especially hazardous from the months of June to October. \u201cWe call this period tiis-pilipit (to twist in hunger) and we must make do.\u201d (Gregg Yan) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With limited healthcare access, tribesfolk have traditionally relied on medicinal plants to deal with cough, colds, fever, skin diseases, intestinal parasites, diarrhea and other common ailments. The Taw\u2019buid <\/em>for instance use bungarngar<\/em> to treat stomachaches, pito-pito<\/em> to relieve pain and salimbayong<\/em> for healing open wounds. A 1984 study by Garan and Quintana identified 128 medicinal plant species used by various Mangyan tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsolated communities are especially vulnerable to diseases from the outside world because immune responses have yet to be developed,\u201d says medical anthropologist Gideon Lasco. \u201cLimited access to healthcare and fear of hospitals also keeps them from seeking treatment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People From Above<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taw\u2019buid<\/em> means \u2018people from above\u2019 and is among two names the tribe calls itself \u2013 the other being Batangan <\/em>or \u2018felled forest.\u2019 Close to 20,000 inhabit Mindoro\u2019s central highlands, making them the largest of the eight tribes collectively called Mangyans by lowlanders \u2013 the others being the Alangan, Bangon, Buhid, Hanunuo, Iraya<\/em>, Ratagnon <\/em>and Tadyawan<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many still sport loincloths called amakan<\/em>, hunt game with spears called tulag<\/em>, bows called gadun<\/em> and spike traps called silo<\/em>. Unlike other Mangyan who chew betel-nut, nearly all Taw’buid<\/em> men smoke a combination of papaya and tobacco \u2013 children included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once occupying Mindoro\u2019s lowlands, they were pushed into the mountains by both Spanish colonizers and Filipino immigrants. Their home forests too have retreated \u2013 with thousands of hectares converted into grazing land or rice paddies. As a people, the Taw\u2019buid<\/em> are peaceful, secretive and deeply animistic \u2013 careful not to rouse the anger of their gods including Alulaba<\/em>, lord of rivers and waterways, or Mangyan Muyod<\/em>, lord of the mountains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact with the Taw\u2019buid<\/em> has been established through missionary groups and the Tamaraw Conservation Programme (TCP), which employs tribesmen as trackers and rangers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Taw\u2019buid<\/em>, serving as a ranger is an honor and a stepping-stone to become a fufu-ama<\/em> or tribal elder \u2013 making them natural allies to conserve the world\u2019s most endangered buffalo. Fufu-amas <\/em>Henry Timuyog, Fuldo Gonzales, Oskar Bongray and Pedro Salonga are some of the many Taw\u2019buid <\/em>who have served as TCP rangers. \u201cWe welcome them for their bushcraft and field skills,\u201d shares TCP head Neil Anthony Del Mundo as we trudge closer to the grassy peaks inhabited by herds of tamaraw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
 Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) are endemic forest buffalo found only on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. Numbering only about 600, they are considered critically-endangered by the IUCN. Adults stand a meter at the shoulder and weigh around 300 kilogrammes. Bulls are larger, darker and solitary, while cows tend their calves in close-knit groups. Lobbyists are pushing for it to become the country\u2019s national land animal. (Gregg Yan) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Disease Outbreaks <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A century ago, disease nearly wiped out the tamaraw \u2013 it\u2019s also disease which threatens its protectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The island of Mindoro has a long history of disease. The island was largely bereft of human settlement in the 1800s because of malaria but was home to an estimated 10,000 tamaraw, a small dwarf buffalo with distinctive V-shaped horns that roamed its dense forests and wide rolling fields. But a century later, the island became a prime pastureland and the forests and open fields turned into a hunting ground for poachers armed with high-caliber weapons like M14 and M16 rifles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1969, the outbreak of rinderpest and avid sport hunting drove the tamaraw population below 100, prompting the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to declare the species as critically endangered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decades of conservation led by the Tamaraw Conservation Programme (TCP), Biodiversity Management Bureau, Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) and a host of allies including the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme and Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Incorporated, D\u2019Aboville Foundation, Global Wildlife Conservation, World Wide Fund for Nature, Far Eastern University, Eco Explorations and the Taw\u2019buid<\/em> people led by chief Fausto Novelozo, prevented the bovine\u2019s extinction, helping tamaraw numbers recover to around 600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the animals are confined to four isolated areas in Mindoro, all vulnerable to disease. \u201cBovine tuberculosis, hemosep and anthrax can enter Mindoro if we\u2019re not careful,\u201d explains Dr. Mikko Angelo Reyes, a Mindoro-based veterinarian. \u201cThe key is biosecurity<\/em>, the prevention of disease through quarantine, inoculation and immunization. We should ensure that at the very least, animals entering the island are checked for sickness. We should also establish and respect buffer zones around protected areas, which are often rung by farms and livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the siganon<\/em> visitors to chief Fausto\u2019s village, imported cattle can spread diseases which tamaraw have not developed immunities to. The Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) spans 106,655 hectares. It is currently surrounded by 3000 cattle belonging to 30 ranchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fufu Ama or tribal elder Ben Mitra with a gadun or short bow, used for hunting small prey like birds and lizards. The Taw\u2019buid are the most numerous of Mindoro\u2019s eight ethnolinguistic groups. Though they revere the tamaraw, they also engage in slash-and-burn farming and set-up both spike traps and snares to snag wildlife. (Gregg Yan) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Preventing Outbreaks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, TCP and MIBNP rangers work to ward off poachers, dismantle spring-loaded balatik<\/em> and deadly silo<\/em> snare traps while keeping disease outbreaks to a minimum \u2013 preventing cattle from intruding into the park and giving the park\u2019s indigenous people medicine and employment so they can buy supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To gather much-needed resources for this, BIOFIN is helping raise funds via donations. \u201cA little help goes a long way. We ask fellow Pinoys to donate just a bit to save the Taw\u2019buid<\/em>, tamaraw and the rangers keeping everything working,\u201d says BIOFIN Philippines project manager Anabelle Plantilla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nationwide lockdowns spurred by COVID-19 is also taking a toll on communities and institutions dependent on ecotourism revenues. UNDP is preparing crowdfunding campaigns in the Philippines and other nations to keep these communities afloat \u2013 especially as government funds are being redirected to fight the growing pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception in 2012, BIOFIN has worked with both the public and private sectors to enhance protection for the country\u2019s biodiversity hotspots by helping secure funds to implement sound biodiversity programs. BIOFIN\u2019s second phase in the Philippines runs from 2018 to 2022 and includes the implementation of finance solutions to raise resources for the tamaraw and other endangered species through creative crowdfunding from corporations, government units, schools and individuals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Punong Tribo Fausto Novelozo gathering vegetables at the foothills of the Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park in Occidental Mindoro. At 66, he is the chief of the Taw\u2019buid, the most numerous of Mindoro\u2019s eight ethnolinguistic groups. The son of the previous chief, he lived near the Philippine capital of Manila for several years before returning to lead his tribe. An excellent conservation ally, he actively convinces other tribesfolk to stop setting-up traps for tamaraw. (Gregg Yan) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

* * * <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the Iglit-Baco Park, a weathered man in a loincloth emerged from a field of upland corn. \u201cHelp us. We need medicine,\u201d coughed Ben Mitra<\/strong>, a Taw\u2019buid fufu-ama<\/em>. Our column, already returning to the lowlands, stops to dig out whatever medicine we have left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFadi-fadi,\u201d he says in Taw\u2019buid<\/em>, accepting our goods. Thank you<\/em>.As we trek back down, I pray they\u2019ll be spared from disease and the fate of chief Fausto\u2019s now-abandoned forest village. Like many of the country\u2019s protected areas, the Iglit-Baco Natural Park exists in a fragile balance. One outbreak is all it takes \u2013 but we can all pitch in to prevent it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact <\/em>biofin.ph@undp.org<\/em><\/a> to know more.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the reclusive Taw\u2019buid, death and disease are part of life, hindering them from protecting an animal they revere \u2013 the critically-endangered tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis), only 600 of which remain today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,15],"tags":[970,244,214,2048,2218,217,218,276],"class_list":["post-5980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlight","category-travel","category-opinions","tag-environment","tag-environmental-protection","tag-environmentalism","tag-good-life","tag-high-life","tag-sustainability","tag-sustainable-efforts","tag-sustainable-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5988,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5980\/revisions\/5988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}