Traditional
Bagobo society was divided into three classes.
- Magani – the warrior class
The Datu was the chief magani who inherited his position
from his ancestors. He did not enjoy special privilege except for the title and
rank. His main function was to be a judge, arbiter, and a defender of the
tribe. The magani who should have killed at least 2 persons was allowed to wear
blood-red clothes and a headkerchief called tangkulu, and he was allowed
to possess a small bag for betel nut and lime which was considered a property
of the spirits.
If the magani was held in high esteem, a man called the matalo was scorned by the
Bagobo society because he had never killed a person and had no desire to fight.
- Mabalian – the ritual practitioners or the healers
The elderly women who were usually distinguished as
skilled weavers. Accordingly, they were first selected through a dream or a
vision from a benign spirit who revealed the secret of a new cure for an
ailment. Then they became apprentice to seasoned mabalians who taught them,
among other things, how to weave the clothes of the magani.
Like the magani, mabalians wore special clothes that
signified their position.
- Al-lang – the slaves
The slave class was composed of women and children taken
during raids. Slave women sometimes became concubines of their masters. The
children of such unions were considered free because their fathers were
freemen.
Al-langs could be sold and bought, or presented as part of
a sab-lag
or a wedding dowry.
The Justice System in the Early Bagobo Society:
The
datu meted out punishment to all offenders. Crimes punishable with death were
murder,
incest, and refusal to serve in payment for one’s debt. A husband whose wife
cheated on him could kill his wife and her lover but must leave his weapon
embedded in their bodies. Otherwise, the families of the victims could avenge
the deaths.
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