Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

A Case Study of an Indigenous Group

( Badjao)

By:

Raymundo,Leabhel N. Cagurungan, Maritess

Pascual,Roy
Ramos, Lysette

Baquiran, Icylie
Manabat, Aubrey

Corpuz, Judy Ann

Delacruz, May ann

Delos Trino, Lester

Presented to:

Jayson Kyle A. Antonio, LPT

A.Y. 2019-2020
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is a country with the distinct

culture. It has an estimated 14 – 17 million Indigenous

People (IPS) belonging to 110 ethno-linguistic groups.

Badjaos are widely known as the “Sea Gypsies” of the Sulu

and Celebes Seas, the Badjao are scattered along the

coastal areas of Tawi Tawi, Busilan, Sulu and some coastal

municipalities of Zamboanga Del Sur in the ARMM. Amongst

themselves, they’re known as the Sama Laus (Sea Sama) and

are found living on houseboats where they make their

livelihood solely on the sea as expert fishermen, deep sea

divers, and navigators. (Ethnic Group of the Philippines

2018).

The sea dwelling Sama-Bajau are known under different

names or terms, as for example ‘Badjao’ or ‘Bajau’ which is

a Malay-Bornean word which connotes "man of the seas"

(Blust 2005). They have also been referred to as ‘palau’ or

‘lumaan’ by their neighbours, both meaning “Godforsaken”,

as they have lived on the sea and been recognized as

backward (Pallesen 1985).

The Sama-badjau tribes came from south-western

Mindanao and are known differently among Filipinos as sea-

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

dwellers. They live in the sea, and their houses are built

within the waters. They are used to earning a living from

the water as most heads of the families are fishermen and

pearl finders/hunters while Badjao mothers are mostly pearl

and fruit vendors (Ibid)). These “sea gypsies” known as

Badjao, were among those who are displaced and forced into

destitution following the armed confrontation between

government forces and rebels from the Moro National

Liberation Front in September 2013 at Zamboanga City. “That

violence killed nearly 200 people, displaced more than

100,000 residents, and destroyed thousands of homes.” The

city’s ethnic minorities, including the Badjao, were

particularly vulnerable to displacement and forced

relocation following the fighting. With such flight, these

Badjao families have gone exploring in different places

from Mindanao to various cities and provinces including

Manila, Batangas and in Nueva Ecija. The new environment of

these people had also made changes in their lives and in

their routines since they are used to what is brought by

the sea waters and not by the land (Dator et al., (2018).

Extreme poverty has forced many of them to resort to

begging as a means of survival. Whenever they live, they

are considered citizens of the lowest class: ignorant,

dirty, stench-smelling and deprived and most people have

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

very low regard for them. In different parts of Mindanao

their situation is a picture of complete neglect that has

driven whole families to flock to the big cities of Metro

Manila, Cebu, and Davao to beg in the streets.

In the Philippines most refugees live in stilt houses

in urban areas of Mindanao, Cebu, Bohol and Luzon; only a

few remain nomadic (Nimmo, 2006 and Shoup, 2008). Some

ended up in Zambales. During a short period of time many

Badjao have transferred from being dwelling sea nomads to

an urban minority, with limited knowledge about city life.

According to Abrahamsson (2011), a big majority have never

been to school, they can seldom read or write, they have no

legal papers, and they have no experience of administration

and governmental rule. Their Philippine neighbors view them

as uncivilized, lazy and dirty. For example, Badjao face

discrimination when entering shopping malls and

restaurants, their children are being teased in school and

they can hardly find a job (Blust 2007). They are darker in

the skin than the majority population; they have bleached

hair which they get because of the salt water and the sun;

and they wear colourful clothes, which make them

stigmatized. Their situation is very much similar to the

situation of Roma in Europe. Actually they have

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

traditionally been referred to as “sea gypsies” (Pallesen

1985, Blust 2005).

Despite the move of the government to assist these

families, many have not stopped working in the streets to

beg, allowing children to stay on the roads with the risks

of running for jeepers. Children of the Badjao community

are mostly with other children begging for coins, giving

letters of solicitation in white envelopes and folders and

singing in exchange of coins or any amount. Some children

are carried by their mothers, including

infants, while seeking for compassion. They became the

common site in the Transport Terminal or near malls and bus

stop. They became seeming street dwellers for those who do

not know that houses are built and awarded for them and

their families. Lives of these children became a risk as

they became prone to street accidents and physical diseases

which may be caught due to the changes in the weather and

the environment. The Badjaos are at the receiving end of

all the consequences of the systemic on-going insecurities

and violence beyond reach of government services.

The researchers of this case study aims to gain more

knowledge about the ways of life, identity, society and

culture of an ethnic group, specifically the Badjao.

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Statement of the Problems:

1. What is the socio-demographic profile of the

respondents in terms of:

 Age

 Sex

 Educational attainment

2. What is the reason of living in the City

3. What are they ways of life in terms of;

a.)Diet

b.)Belief

c.)Tradition

d.)How they survive each day

e.)Mode of dressing

f.)Language they use

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Objectives of the Study

This study aims to examine the lives of Badjao in

Santiago City, specifically, it will have the following:

1. To determine the socio- demographic profile of the

respondents in terms of:

 Age

 Sex

 Educational attainment

2. To determine the reason of living in the City;

3. To describe the ways of life in terms of

a.)Diet

b.)Belief

c.)Tradition

d.)Ways of life

e.)How they survive each day

f.)Mode of dressing

g.)Language they use

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Significance of the Study

The importance of this study is to find out the

Badjao’s Culture, Beliefs, Traditions, ways of life, what

they eat and how they survive each day.

This study will help us know the condition of Badjao’s

and how they struggle for their foods, needs and home in

their everyday living.

Government: This case study will serve as the insight for

the government that they need to pay attention for the

Badjao’s due to the lack of Education which they can’t

afford, lack of food that’s why they struggle in their

everyday living, unemployment and lack of experience.

Community: This will help the people to understand them. In

relation, it will also correct the misconceptions

stereotyping the minds of the people. The society will also

give the more positive regard as the government will

hopefully make interventions.

Future researchers: The study can also be beneficial to

them for the reason that the ideas presented may be used as

reference data in conducting new researches or in testing

validity of other related findings. This study will also

serve as their cross-reference that will give them a

background or an overview regarding the situation of the

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Badjao’s culture, traditions and how they survive in their

everyday living.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study will focus on the case of Badjao people in

Santiago City and will be conducted on the same area. The

major participants are the Badjao. Every effort was made to

ensure that the interview guide used was adequate to

collect required information for drawing conclusions and

find specific answer to the problem and to the major

objectives. This will be allocated for the Month of

November 2019.

Definition of Terms

In order to have an easy and better understanding for

the reader. The research define the following

terminologies:

Badjao- Are an academic fisher-folk who have been using

sustainable fishing methods for over 1500 years. In the

past 50 years however, the Philippines experienced in a

surge in population that has severely depleted fish

populations, leaving Badjao without anything to sustain

their livelihood.
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Culture- Is a word for the ‘way life” of groups of people,

meaning the way they do things. A Culture is passed on the

next generation by learning, whereas genetics are passed on

by heredity.

Identity – Is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks

and or expressions that make a person (self-identity)or

group (particular social category or social group),in

psychology.

Ethnic Group- A community or population made up of people

who share a common cultural background or descent.

Sea gypsies- Sama-Badjau have sometimes been called the

“Sea Gypsies” or “Sea Nomads”.

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this Chapter, the researcher will make a short

review of the research work that other scientists have made

about Badjao, as well as other groups of sea people who

live in a similar situation, and link it to this present

essay on pearl vending.

Foreign Literature

Compared to other groups of sea nomads, as for example

Moken in the south-western coast of Burma and Thailand,

little research have been done about Badjao. Actually

little is known about Badjao’s history before the beginning

of the 20th century. However, their neighbours have always

known them as boat dwellers and they have been living on

boats for as long as they can remember (Sopher 1977, Stacey

2007).

Clifford Sather at the University of Malaysia is one

of the few social anthropologists who have made research

about Badjao. He has conducted fieldwork among Badjao in

north-eastern Borneo and studied their relationship to

land-based communities. He has discovered that Badjao are

facing fierce discrimination from neighboring tribes, even

from other Sama groups. In Sather (1995) he states that:

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Relations between Badjao and more powerful populations

ashore (such as the Tausug and Maguindanao in the Southern

Philippines) have seldom been founded on mutual respect,

and everywhere the Badjao, as a sea people, have tended to

be marginalized, excluded from positions of power,

despised, and confined to the lowest rungs of the social

ladder. (Sather 1995: vi)

However, Clifford Sather has not been studying any

Badjao group living in an urban environment, and pearl

vending has not been in existence in the areas where he has

conducted fieldwork. The anthropologist Harry Nimmo at

California State University has also studied about Badjao

over a longer period of time. He began his studies in Sulu

Sea in the early 1960s and he has made more than five

fieldtrips over a period of 40 years. In the most recent

book Magosaha (Nimmo 2006), Nimmo describes the changes

that have occurred during the last 40 years in the Sulu

Sea. Magosaha is a description of the traditional culture

Nimmo encountered when he began his research in the early

1960s and how the civil unrest has changed their way of

living.

Historically, they were a highly mobile people that lead a

nomadic lifestyle which depended upon the bounty of the

ocean and the use of key resources on land in order to

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

survive (Nimmo. 2006: 21-25). In the end of the book Nimmo

concludes that the boat-dwelling culture he met in the

middle of the 2000th century no longer exists in the

Philippines – due to significant changes caused by the

ongoing civil unrest in the Sulu Sea (Nimmo 2006).

Another well-known researcher is Kemp Pallesen, a

linguist from SIL International (Summer Institute of

Linguistics), who also has been studying about the Badjao

since 1960’s. He is one of few researchers who have been

able to study Badjao in the heart of the Sulu Sea and he

did so before the conflicts escalated in the 1970’s

(Pallesen 1985). Today it is more or less impossible to

stay in the region for most outsiders (even for most

Philippine citizens), due to the instable security

situation (Nimmo 2006). Also Pallesen has been documenting

the racism which Badjao is facing. “It was sad to see how

bad Badjao were treated among other tribes in the Sulu Sea,

as for example the Tausug and Marano”, he told me in an

interview in Davao City in 2011, “but they sometimes fought

back with their spear-guns”. Pallesen has not made any

research about Badjao’s pearl vending either, as he has

been focusing more on their language, religion, society and

fishing techniques (Pallesen 1972, Pallesen 1985).

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

The Swedish anthropologist Lotta Granbom has been

studying about the sea nomads Urak Lawoi (a sub-group to

Orang Laut) and their relationship to tourists in southern

Thailand. Granbom has conducted several fieldworks on the

popular tourist island Ko Lanta, where tourism has had a

great impact on the local economy as well as on the sea

nomads. “The study shows what happens to them when they are

being deprived of their territory and are being forced to

abandon their culture, lifestyle and traditional economic

subsistence” (Granbom 2005:1). On Ko Lanta, most Urak Lawoi

have lost their traditional land and boats and have

therefore found difficulties to maintain their culture.

Some of the Urak Lawoi villages in the region have turned

into tourist attractions. For example you can read signs as

“Sea Gypsy Village” (Hope 2001) and tourist companies

advertise the region as a “pristine paradise” where you can

get a change to explore the culture of sea gypsies (Granbom

2005: 10-13). These cases shows what can happen if the

influence from tourism and the state gets too big. In

southern Philippines, however, were my fieldwork has been

conducted the international tourism have not yet grown this

big - because of the instable security situation.

Cynthia Chou at Copenhagen University has also studied

about Orang Laut. She has focused on the interrelations

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

between Orang Laut, the state and local people in Riau in

western Indonesia. She writes that Orang laut are

recognized as “backward people” by the Indonesian

government and local Indonesians, and that they are seen as

“alien and dangerous” (Chou 2009). In particular, the Orang

Laut interfere with the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth

Triangle which aims to promote economic development in the

area – making the Indonesian Government eager to displace

people who are living in lucrative areas (Chou 2009).

Similar relationships are being highlighted in the

Philippines, where Badjao are seen as alien to modernity

and pushed away. However, in Riau there has not been any

pearl vending in existence among Orang Laut.

Local Literature

Actually, there are few studies available on Badjao

living in an urban environment. One good example, though,

is the sociologist Regina Estorba Macalandag’s study from

2009, which focused on the relationship between Badjao and

the authorities in the city of Tagbilaran in central

Philippines – where pearl vending is existing (Macalandag

2009). Macalandag presented some political proposals that

had been given by Philippine politicians in Tagbilaran in

order to get rid of the disturbing elements of Badjao’s

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

begging and vending practises in the region. One of these

proposals were to exclude Badjao from the public space, and

another idea was to transform the Badjao community in

Tagbilaran into a tourist attraction, in order to make the

attraction more controlled (Macalandag 2009: 26-33). In her

work, Macalandag discusses the tensions between Badjao and

the state, but she is not focusing on Badjao’s relationship

to the tourists and the local people in Tagbilaran.

There are no studies available on Badjao’s pearl

vending in Philippines and their relationship to the

tourists that surround them. Therefore, this study on pearl

vending can give a good contribution to the understanding

of the relationship between Badjao and the surrounding

people in an urban environment, and it can help us to

understand how Badjao manage to hold on to their culture in

an urban environment.

Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the method and procedures used in

conducting the study. It is divided into the following:

a) Research Design

b) Locale of the Study

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

c) Research Instrument

d) Participants of the Study

e) Data Collection Procedure

Research Design

This qualitative research will be using case study.

The case of Badjao living in the city and will have in

depth-explanation regarding their identity, society and

culture.

A qualitative approach of the study is inclined and

sought to understand the participants’ experience

(Lichtman, 2006).

A case study is one of the types of qualitative

research that involves the investigation of the case which

can be defined as an entity or an object of the study that

is bounded, or separated for research in terms of time,

place or some physical boundaries (Creswell, 2008).

As case study methodology has developed and been

proven to be string strategy for research in the

qualitative paradigm, Yin (1981) has acknowledge the value

of the interpretive perspective.

Research Locale
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

The researcher will gather information in Santiago

City. It involves Badjao people living in the same area.

Participants of the Study

The researcher will gather at least ten (10)

participants of this study, specifically Badjaos.

Research Instruments

The qualitative research will use qualitative in-depth

interview where set of questions are to be given to the

selected participants of the study.

Interview. The data gathering instrument used in this study

was the interview. Face-to-face interviews have a distinct

advantage of enabling the researcher to establish rapport

with potential participants and therefore gain their

cooperation.

Data Collection Procedure

For the purpose of this research, in-depth interviews

were used. In-depth interviews, whose aim is to identify

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

participant culture, beliefs, tradition, ways of life, what

they eat, and how they survive each day.

The main advantage of personal interview is it involve

personal and direct contact between interviews and

interviewees.

The data gathered were tallied, tabulated, computed,

analyzed and interpreted.

Data Analysis Procedure

To give meaning to the data gathered the following

statistical instrument were used:

Frequency Count. Simple frequency count was used to

determine the distribution of response of the participants.

Percentage. The response of the participants on the

interview will be treated. The number of the respondents in

each item will be divided into the total population.

The formula:

𝑓
𝑃= 𝑥 Where:
𝑁

P = Percentage

f= frequency / number of respondents

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

N= Total Population

100= constant

Chapter IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS ANS INTERPRETATION OF DATA

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

This chapter presents the data gathered, the result of

the statistical analysis done and interpretation of

findings. These are presented in tables following the

sequence of the specific research problem regarding the

Life of Badjao in the City, specifically Santiago City.

Table 1, shows the Socio-demographic Profile of the

respondents in terms of Age, Sex and Educational Attainment

Table 1.1 Age of the Respondents

Age Frequency Percentage

18-22 years old 4 40%

23-27 years old 2 20%

28-32 years old 1 10%

33-37 years old 2 20%

38-42 years old 1 10%

Total 10 100%

The table shows the age of the respondents. As shown

on the table, out of ten (10) respondents, four (4) or 40%

are 18-22 years old. Two (2) or 20% of the respondents are

of the age 23-27 and 33-37 years old. Two (2) or 20% also

are 28-32 and 38-42 years old.

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Majority of the respondents are 18-22 years old which

covers 40% of the population.

Table 1.2 Sex of the respondents

Sex Frequency Percentage

Male 3 30%

Female 7 70%

Total 10 100%

As shown on the table, majority of the respondents are

female which covers 70% of the totality.

Table 1.3 Educational Attainment of the respondents

Educational Attainment Frequency Percentage

Attend Pre-School 0 0%

Attend Primary School 0 0%

Attend Secondary School 0 0%

Attend Tertiary 0 0%

Education

Did not Attend School 10 100%

Total 10 100%
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

The table reveals that out of 10 respondents, 10 or

100% of them did not attend to school. This shows the lack

of education among the Badjao group.

Table 2, shows the reasons of Badjao people in staying/

living in the City.

Table 2.1 Reasons of Living in the City

Reason of Living in the Frequency Percentage

City

Extreme Poverty so they 10 100%

are force to beg for

money.

They don’t want to work. 0 0%

They are lazy and 0 0%

dependent

Total 10 0%

The table shows that Badjao people live in the City

because of extreme poverty in their province so they are

forced to live in the City and because they had no formal

education and they cannot work so they just beg for money.
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Table 3, shows the ways of life of Badjao in terms of:

Diet, Belief, Tradition, Ways of life, How they survive

each day, Mode of dressing, Language they use.

Table 3.1 Diet (What do they eat)

Diet Frequency Percentage

Vegetables 5 50%

Fish 3 30%

Chicken 2 20%

Pork 0 0%

This table shows that majority of Badjao people eats

Vegetables.

Table 3.2 Belief (Religion)

Belief(Religion) Frequency Percentage

Believe in God 0 0%

Do not Believe in 0 0%

God

Believe in God but

does not specify 10 100%

what religion
 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

The table shows that the Badjao people believe in God, but

does not specify what religion they belong to

Table 3.3 Tradition

Tradition Frequency Percentage

Arrange Marriage 5 50%

The Badjao 0 0%

throwing newborn

in the deep-sea

and re-ascent of

the older men in

the baby.

Wedding Dance 5 50%

The table shows that the Arrange marriage and Wedding

Dance are common to the Badjao people.

Table 3.4 How they survive each day

How they survive Frequency Percentage

each day

Fishing 1 10%

Begging for money 8 80%

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

Repairing phones 1 10%

The table shows that most of the badjao people survive

by begging for money in the streets.

Table 3.5 Mode of Dressing

Mode of Dressing Frequency Percentage

Badju 1 10%

Simpay 0 0%

Usual shirts 2 20%

Badju and Usual 6 60%

shirts

The table shows that the Badjao people use the Badju

and Usual shirts as their mode of dressing.

Table 3.6 Language

Language Frequency Percentage

Tagalog 0 0%

Sinama 9 90%

Tagalog and Sinama 1 10%

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

The table shows that most of them cannot speak

Tagalog, They still use their mother tounge as their

language which is the Sinama.

Chapter V

CONCLUSION

Chapter V contains the research summary, conclusions

and recommendations of the whole study. The finding of the

study without so much detailed information is written on

summary.

Summary

Based on the findings of the study, the researcher

concludes that Badjao people are mainly concern of their

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

daily earnings in order to feed their family. Since they

are away from their original community which is the sea,

they are not used to working on the land. This means that

they have limited idea as to what works would suit them in

their new community. This had been the reason why they

spend their days begging in the streets. This culture was

adapted by the Badjao Street children. They value earning

money more than schooling because this is what they see

from their parents. They need to make to every day fruitful

by earning money. At an early age, they were oriented to

the household needs, from the domestic chores to the means

of finding meals for the family. This reflects the common

Filipino values in their culture which is the “family

first” principle. Additionally, it can be concluded that if

the Government would be able to provide programs which will

orient the Badjao men and women on works which will make

them progressive in the land, they will leave the streets.

Some may think that Badjaos beg because they do not want to

work, but the real thing is Badjao regard begging as work,

the easiest and the simplest work they know. This is so

because they are not aware of other possible means to earn

money for the daily meals. With these thoughts,

interventions from the government in terms of livelihood

trainings will be a great help in changing their lives and

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

making their children schooled. However, this study must be

supported by future studies since it only has ten

participants and the locales are limited to Santiago City

selected area. There were other cities in Isabela were

Badjao people lives. A replication of this study will

greatly support and enhance the findings and intervention

program which may be served and utilized by the

government.It will make the result stronger and more

reliable. Still with the conclusions and limitations, the

researcher is highly recommending that the Intervention

Program which is the output of this study be utilized.

Conclusions

Based from the findings of the study, the following

conclusions are drawn or formuated

1. Most of the respondents are ages 18 to 22 years old

2. The preponderance of respondents among womens

3. All of them were not able to attend educational

institution

4. Most of the respondents state that extreme poverty is

the reason of living in the city.

5. Majority of the respondents classified vegetables as

their main source of food.

 Badjao in a City: It’s Culture, Identity and Society

6. They believe in God but they do not know the religion

they belong to.

7. Arranged marriage are common to Badjaos..

8. They wear the same clothes as we do as well as the

“Badju”

9. They survive each day by begging for money.

10. Most of them use Sinama as their language.

Recommendations

Based on the study, the following are recommended by the

researchers

1. Provision of education and support if the government

to their educational needs.

2. Housing projects and improvements of their area/

relocation

3. Equal opportunity for Badjao to have a decent work

especially the parents so that they will not send

their children to beg in the streets in danger.

4. The Good traits of Badjao and their culture must be

provided through the use of media channels or printing

materials, so that the other people might not

discriminate them to prevent the occurrence of crime