55
Summer road trip
t i
“A
nd what about
you, what’s your
tribe?” There’s
a question you
don’t hear every day. Then
again, it’s not every day I find
myself visiting the town of
T’boli in the Allah Valley of
South Cotabato, in southern
Mindanao, home to the T’boli
tribe. It’s early morning in
the garden of a local tribal
princess where, as guests,
we’re being taught the
tahaw
, a
traditional dance that mimics
the movement of tahaw birds
in flight. In the olden days,
the ceremonial dance was
performed at the start of each
planting season.
Asking after people’s tribal
origins is perhaps musician
Jose Bangun’s way of making
small talk. But when the
question is put to me, it strikes
a deeper chord. When you hail
