Kabihug

Kabihug is a community of indigenous people in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte.

They use banana leaves for their plates. They measure the food each person is going to eat per meal
para equal ang serving and walay ma gutom. SAkto lang na nay sulod ilang tiyan

Elders were not able to go to school because their ancestors believed that if they were to go to school
with people outside their tribe, the children will be snatched away.

Youngest child of elder (ma’am Siony) wanted to have education. For the simple reason of knowing how
to manage and count her money that way, she will not be scammed by others. She was able to go to
school but only until the first grade
The area where the Kabihug live has been preserved. It was declared in 2012 as an ancestral domain.

In an area they call the “Bakawan”, that’s where they find food (fish and crab) for their everyday living.
Despite the road being difficult to walk on, these people did not stop as it was their only means of
livelihood.
In the area where maraming ugat, dun naghahanap ang mga babae ng alimango. It has hard to see
because the soil below the water was dark however, they were still able to catch these crabs. They used
plants to tie up the crabs.

The children of Kabihug are being bullied. Why? Kay bihug daw sila. Because of their origin. Lakas maka
discriminate.

1. After watching the Kabihug’s culture, I was able to see and learn that in this modern day of age,
there are still people among us that use our natural resources directly in everyday life. You can
see near the beginning of the video, where they were eating, they used banana leaves for their
plates. Later on we see that they used “kawayan” or some kind of plant to be used as a string
where they later on use it to tie the fish and crab they were able to catch. The spear that the
men used for catching the fish were also made out of kawayan, as well as the goggles that they
 used to cover their eyes. While watching the documentary, one can clearly see that the Kabihug
used only natural resources in their daily life.
2. In the modern day of age, most people, especially those who live in urban areas, no longer
directly make use of natural resources unlike the Kabihug. The resources that we now use are
those produced by factories and shops. However, after using these products, we simply throw
them away and mark them as unusable. Instead of reusing them, they now form part of the
waste that has piled up over the years which caused the pollution in our home – the Earth, to
increase. As the population increases, more and more of these products, which will eventually
be labeled as “unusable”, are being utilized and thrown away. In contrast to that, the Kabihug
does not have a “throwaway culture”. They simply reuse the products they can make out of the
natural resources in the area. This in turn helps to lessen the degradation of Mother Earth as it
lessens wastes.
3. The law will be of help by regulating the use and maintaining the condition of the gifts of nature.
The law is also of help through the preservation of these gifts, as well as protecting them. Such
as in this documentary, in 2012 the area where the Kabihug lives has been declared as part of
the Ancestral Domain and because of that, the area has been preserved well. The beautiful coral
reefs, the long trees and the vast area have been kept as is. However, the law will only be of
help when the people who created them implement them strictly and when the people to
whom it is addressed will follow it wholeheartedly.
4. I was able to take away three important things after watching the documentary “Kabihug”:
Reservation, Luxury in Simplicity, and Continued Discrimination.
On the first, I was able to understand that if places will be kept in reservation, such the
declaration of these areas as “Ancestral Domain”, they can be preserved for the indigenous
people who have been living in these areas since time immemorial. Many of our indigenous
people have been robbed off their lands throughout the years. They have been exploited and
taken advantage of by some people because their rights to these lands have not been protected.
If we continue to neglect their rights, nothing will be left for them. These people need our help
the most because they are part of those who have trouble in voicing out their cries and pain.
On the second, I was able to see that the way the Kabihug live their lives have the luxury that
modern people do not have, and that is being one with nature. Our current culture, in contrast
to the of the Kabihug’s, have scarred many of our natural resources and aided in the destruction
of our very own home. As I have said before, the reason our environment was forced to adapt to
 the changes comes from the kind of lifestyle we pursue, how much consumption we take and
even the way we handle our productions. We were given the luxury to the use of these natural
resources but the way we use it without reserve has resulted to its degradation. The simple kind
of living the Kabihug lead is the life that is most suitable to make the Earth heal. In the times
now, where there is a pandemic at hand, the Earth is slowly healing since the human activities
that pollute it have been reduced. Hopefully during these times we can understand more that
Nature is a luxury we were given a chance to hold but this luxury will continue to exist only if we
start to take the responsibility we were first given – stewards of creation and protectors of
Mother Earth.
On the last, the Kabihug faces continued discrimination. They are still set apart from the rest
simply because of their origins. Many of the children who go to school are bullied for the simple
fact that they are who they are – a Kabihug. This is a reality that must be noticed by all. We may
not follow the same culture but we are still part of the same kind – human. None of us, including
the Kabihug, deserve any kind of discrimination.
5. As depicted in the documentary, you can see that our IPs in the country continue to suffer
discrimination. It was shown that some of the children were bullied simply because they are
part of the Kabihug. Our IPs, especially the elder ones, were also unable to have proper
education because their ancestors had beliefs that children would be snatched or take away if
they go toe schools administered by people outside of the tribe. As a consequence, their
children also have a hard time in school because their parents, who lack the education, cannot
aid them in their assignments or projects. Lastly, our IPs are still prone to being exploited and
taken advantage of. One of the IPs who were interviewed was asked for what reason did she
want to go to school and she replied that she wanted to know how to count and manage money
as she did not want to be scammed or tricked by others. One of the factors that cause them to
be easily tricked is because of their lack in education and experience outside their areas.