First from the Mountains: A Tau’t Bato Woman Graduates
Coming from the isolated Tau’t Bato indigenous peoples (IP) community in the hinterlands of southern Palawan, it was difficult for 25year old Juda Diklay to go down to study to become a teacher.
Keeping up with her school environment and classmates proved to be a challenge because she was unfamiliar with the place and she did not know any of them.
It took her years to make necessary self-adjustments to connect with her surroundings and the people who will be with her as she carves a future for herself.
Since she was the first in her tribe to attend a formal class, Juda has no knowledge about how things work in a school system.
This situation was even aggravated by the distance of the lowland from where her family lives in the mountain.
“Mahirap po ‘yong nag-aaral ka sa baba na hindi mo kilala kung sino ‘yong mga nakakasalamuha mo tapos malayo pa sa akin ‘yong pamilya ko. Lagi ko naiisip ang mga negative na bagay at sumuko na lang, pero napapaisip rin ako kung ano’ng mangyayari sa akin kapag susuko ako agad sa pag-aaral ko,” Juda said.
(It was really difficult to study in the lowland since I don’t even know the people I am encountering. In addition to that, I was also away from my family. That always made me think about negative thoughts and
surrendering, but I also wondered about what will happen to me if I will give up my studies.)
Juda went through a lot of challenges, but the burning desire to learn and discover the world around her has helped motivate her to persevere with determination to make history to be the first Tau’t Bato tribe member to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.
Living in the Mountains
The Tau’t Bato or Taa’wt Bato is a Pala’wan indigenous peoples subgroup that lives in the rugged lands and dense forests of Singnapan Valley in Rizal municipality.
Long before, they lived inside the crater of an extinct volcano in the town, hence their name which literally means “stone people” or “dwellers of the rock.”
Today, the members of the Tau’t Bato tribe no longer live in the caves. They now dwell in their thatched-roof cottages made of light and sturdy materials like saplings, dry stalks, and palm fronds. However, when it is raining hard and the valley is flooded, they still go to the caves for shelter.
Juda said it also serves as their hiding place whenever they hear unpleasant stories from the lowland.
“Napaka-delikado po noong mga dinadaanan namin papunta sa mga kweba. Puro bato, at kaliwa’t kanang bangin ang dadaanan para makapunta doon at buwis-buhay talaga. May part pa doon na tatawid ng tulay na kailangan nakabalanse ka kung hindi malalaglag ka talaga,” she narrated.
(The trails going to the caves are very dangerous. We need to pass through rocks and cliffs to get there and it’s a really a life-threatening experience. There is a foot bridge that we need to cross by carefully balancing ourselves or we will fall.)
Juda said they rarely go down the mountain to purchase food from the market. They subsist through gathering wild fruits and vegetables, hunting, and planting rice and other crops.
Their community can only be reached through an eight-hour hike from Barangay Ransang.
Most of them, she said, do not attend school because of their distance. They also do not have access to different health services.
“May mga pumupunta pong misyonaryo sa amin. Kapag pumupunta sila para kunin ‘yong mga anak para pag-aralin sa baba, tinatanggihan nila dahil iniisip nila na mamamatay ‘yong anak nila since hindi nila kilala ‘yong mga tao o baka hindi na makabalik agad ‘yong mga anak nila,” Juda said.
(There were missionaries that went to our community. When they come, they want to take the children to study in the lowland, the families refuse because they do not know them and they worry that their children will not return home.)
Only Juda’s family was convinced to let her and her brother Jonathan go down the mountain to study. She said this happened five years after the Christian missionary group “Youth with a Mission” (YWAM) succeeded in pursuing their parents to let them study.
YWAM has been visiting their tribe even before Juda was born to share gospels and encourage the parents to send their children to school. YWAM also visits not only their tribes but others in Palawan and other parts of the country.
“Noong una, ayaw ko naman talagang sumama. Si Jonathan ang mas gustong mag-aral, pero sabi ng magulang namin sumama na lang daw kami pareho kahit ako lang talaga ‘yong gusto nilang isama,” she said.
(At first, I didn’t want to go. It was Jonathan who wanted to study, but my parents told me to just go with them even if I didn’t really want to.)
Juda was already 10 years old when she went to study at Ransang Elementary School with her brother. She knew then that it will be difficult for a girl from the mountains to begin a new life in the lowland.