MALUNGON, Sarangani (MindaNews / 28 October) – Public school teacher Jacelyn Tuan-Miguel recalls that as a child, the burial practice of the Tbolis was to have the remains of their dearly departed preserved inside a log for a year or more, before they are buried.
“Malaking log po na hinati sa dalawa, inalis ang loob na part both sides para magka espasyo at dun ilagay ang patay, kasama ang mga gamit, like damit kumot at iba pa” (This is a huge log cut into two, the insides carved out to serve as coffin, providing enough space for the dead, clothing and blanket).
But Tbolis over the years, Miguel said, have resorted to modern-day burial methods while the traditional burial rituals are practiced only in remote areas.
Ener Toguin, a project assistant on cultural communities of the Sarangani provincial government, told MindaNews on Saturday that Tbolis in the remote village of sitio Falel in Tamadang, Kiamba, still practice these burial rites.
The Tbolis have a unique burial practice, like having the dead body stay with the family for an extended period before it is buried, he said.
“We personally saw all these, including the baskets of dead infants hanging on tree branches,” he said.
Toguin said the body of a dead Tboli undergoes a cleansing process, before it is placed inside a log or what is referred to as log coffin.
The log is cut into half, lengthwise, its interior carved out to accommodate the corpse and some personal belongings. The log coffin is then sealed airtight with a tree sap.
“Kung adult ang namatay, ila kanang i-preserve sa sulod kahoy for one year to three years usa ilubong (if an adult dies, the remains are placed to be preserved in the log for a year or three before burial underground),” Toguin said.
If the dead is an infant, the remains are wrapped in cloth, placed in a basket and left to hang on a tree branch, according to Toguin.
Blaans have similar customary burial practices with the Tboli, said Toguin, a Blaan himself. But he said these rites are hardly practiced as modernity and the entry of settlers in the Blaan communities have caught up with them.
Toguin said the traditional practice of Blaans is to place the corpse up on tree branches or bury the cadaver in crevices along mountain ridges.
In the olden times, some Blaan families who believed the death of a loved one was caused by evil, abandoned the dead body in the house where the person died. But before that, members of the family would gather around the cadaver “to talk to the person’s soul to honor him or her,” said Toguin.
The Tbolis live in villages along the mountain fringes shared by South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces while Blaans can be found almost everywhere in the provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur. (Rommel G. Rebollido / MindaNews)
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