Some peculiarities of the customs of the Subanos
The customs of the Subanos or Indians of the mountains there is no
reason for relating; for with more hideous extremes they maintain the
evils of the Lutaos, while those peculiar to them are, as it were, the
brutal creatures among other citizens. But that even will add praises
to the changes that have resulted from the skill of the Omnipotent,
and to the zeal of the missionaries, by whose means virtue produced
the civilized and Christian conduct which now is theirs. Their dress
approaches that of the inhabitants of the beach with whom they have
communication. Accordingly, those who traffic with Lutaos or Moros
dress in their style; while those familiar with the Visayan nations
(such as the peoples of Caraga and the coast of Dapitan), through
commerce with them, follow their custom. All their government is
confusion, and they wage war, not some nations with others, nor one
village with another, but all are, as it were, enemies of the human
race. Armed against one another, without subordination or greater
subjection than what the might and act of violence of the boldest
obtained, they had no other laws in their causes that the might of
the one provoked to avenge himself; and his rigor, even in the worst
cases, was appeased by gifts. Thus when a Subano came to acquire a poor
capital that would enable him to pay for a murder, he committed the
murder with the greatest safety, in order that he might be enrolled
in the number of valiant and to have authority as such to wear a red
turban. Because of that barbaric vanity they would kill their best
friend, if they caught him asleep or off his guard; for the barbaric
courage of these nations does not consider posts of reputation, but
those of security. In Caraga there was a more atrocious custom; for, in
order to be able to clothe oneself in the dress of the valiant--namely,
a striped turban, and breeches of their peculiar style (which they call
baxaque) with similar stripes--one must have killed seven men. [69]
The peculiarity of this nation, and the thing that gives them
some excellence and esteem, is that their women are more chaste and
modest. They esteem virginity, and keep it inviolate, even to advanced
age, for the vocation of matrimony. It is true that this virtue is
aided by their natural disposition, which furnishes for the defense of
chastity their native stupidity and shyness; but therewith they succeed
in an undertaking which among Lutaos and the other nations of these
islands is rare and difficult indeed. This has secured them so much
esteem and confidence in this region that the chiefs of high standing
among the Lutaos, in order to guard their daughters more safely,
have them reared among Subanos; and they do not take them into the
dangerous camp of their own nation unless it is to establish them in
marriage, and with that station, in safety, as they think. Among this
nation there is a class of men who profess celibacy [70] and govern
themselves by natural law, and they are very punctual and perfect in
their observance of it; and such is the feeling of security in regard
to them, that they are allowed to go about among the women without any
fear or suspicion. Their dress is throughout like that of the women,
with skirts of the same fashion. They do not use weapons, or engage in
anything else that is peculiar to men, or communicate with them. They
weave the mantas that are used here, which is the proper employment
of women, and all their conversation is with women. Therefore, the
purpose of life which they follow comes to be more extraordinary by
its peculiarity and by its perils, considering both the nature of that
country, and the little regard that they give to their dangers. So
satisfied do they live, either from their own purpose or from their
natural disposition, that they have never discredited their position
with weaknesses. They were, so to speak, hermits of their religion, and
were held in high esteem. And in fact the constancy of their life and
modesty of their customs, obliged one to have respect for them. In a
nation so barbarous and who knew not God, it appears a prodigy worthy
of wonder that one of the special providences of His Divine Majesty,
to place such examples of virtue in a country where vice had absolute
control, so that the experience of the eyes causes them to esteem
what God's love did not obtain. I have known two of these men, and
one of them I baptized, to my especial consolation, while visiting
the coast of Siocon, which extends for twenty leguas from Samboangan
toward Dapitan. His reputation reached me in a different village, for
in his own they kept him closely concealed, whether it were for the
sake of their ancient observances I do not know. Like a holy man of his
law, or because of some fear, he also kept himself hidden; for, as he
afterward told me, they had terrified him by telling him that if the
Spaniards caught him they would put him in the galleys. By that means,
to him whom the pathway of salvation was most easy, they filled it
with such difficulties that they made it impossible for him. I knew
that they would refuse to let me see him for those same reasons,
and therefore made use of a trick and of a dangerous resolution,
to catch him. For near the village, which was located on the beach
in the shade of trees (the poverty of these barbarians not suffering
more shelter), and where in a few hours they would suffer from hunger,
having them all before me I told them that if the lavia [71] whom they
had hidden did not come, then the mass would not begin. Labia is the
name they give to those of this profession. The name of this one was
Tuto. I added that no one must return to his house until he arrived,
and that if he delayed too long, I would go to Samboangan with the
chief of the village and the Subanos of importance. That was the same
to them as if I were taking them to the galleys; so much does their
wretchedness grieve to leave the wretchedness in which they were born,
and their lack of intelligence to appear before reasonable people and
Spaniards. Without allowing them to talk, or to question whether he
was there or not, or where, but assuming that it was a well-known
thing, I turned to a relative of the governor, and said to him:
"Go for him quickly, for I shall not move from this spot until he
comes." He departed without a word, and all of the people remained
motionless, staring with fright. When they recovered their equanimity,
their whole attempt was to excuse their negligence by empty excuses,
which I accepted in order to calm their minds. Inside of an hour
I found in my presence him whom I desired so much. He, seeing the
love with which I received him, and how differently my purpose was
declared from that which his fears gave him to understand, recovered
his courage in full, and immediately offered himself for baptism--a
matter which I was unwilling to defer, in order that I might leave
him with his salvation assured. Consequently, after instructing him
briefly, I baptized him, and called him Martin, as that happy lot came
to him on that saint's day. [72] He satisfied my hopes and hastened
to me every time when I afterward visited his village of Malande,
very punctually, and always with some special refreshment both for
me and for him who in my company had acted as his sponsor.
The other lavia whom I saw was in one of the Joloan islands,
called Pangutara. [73] Him I found to be already a Christian,
whom Father Alexandro Lopez, a great apostle of the Joloans, had
reduced and baptized in Samboangan, and called Santiago. This man
is naturally very well dispositioned and has no moral defects, and
he is a man of a celestial peace and serenity. He is always bubbling
with laughter, which is the effect of the security of his soul; for,
when the conscience has nothing to fear, the heart has gladness to
scatter abroad.
I must not neglect to tell one thing that I noticed in regard to the
nature of the people of this profession, from what I could gather
from the exterior of those two, which seems to me to be the reason
that takes them along the pathway so unusual and difficult in a
climate so hot, and lands so dangerous (as he who has had experience
in these islands, and who knows the wretchedness of their natives
in this region, will know). For the physiognomy of those men is that
of eunuchs, and their natural disposition and condition are so cold,
that it made me think that they must be so naturally, and that nature
kept her virtue under control in this region. But since they behave
in all other things with so blameless a life, I shall always consider
them as prodigies of the divine Providence in favor of virtue. For
no one despises virtue as a thing unknown, since even to barbarians
virtue is painted in so natural colors that they respect it naturally,
without more external credit than their native security.
This sole spark of good morals have I found among the so great darkness
in which the Subanos live. However, they have another custom belonging
to the same aspect of their lives, so vile that it is sufficient
to obscure greater lights than those of that small spark; for among
them is more acceptable the exchange that they make of their women
with one another--the husbands mutually agreeing upon this exchange,
and celebrating the hideous loan and the vile restitution with dances
and drunken revels, according to their custom. Their feasts are like
their customs, and one is the manifestation of the other.