Ring-man films indigenous tribe in Philippines.

Tadhg Ó Foghlú hails from Ring County Waterford. I have known and kept in touch with him now for a good number of years. Tadhg was always filled with a sense of adventure and it was no surprise to me when he started to explore other worlds away from his home at an early age. But this particular leg of his journey in life I found quite intriguing. After College, Tadhg spent five years working as an editor at Nemton in Ring before heading for London. Finding no media work, he went to work for the City of London (Thames water supply) where the inspection of manhole covers for a year and a half weighed heavily on his artistic bent!  Finding no future or outlet for his particular artistic endeavors became frustrating for him and since film editing and producing was his forte, he returned to Ireland and Ring. He very soon became disillusioned and was numbered among the 40.000 forced to leave the country of his birth! The Ring-man decided to move to Singapore. He told me, “I got a bit

sidetracked and traveled through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Through a friend I ended up in the Philippines” 

It was here that he found the very job which he was educated for. “Just in time too as money was tight”. He told me, and so began his journey which was a most wonderful and rewarding experience.  Tadhg’s credentials secured him a job as an editor in the Philippines with an online TV company called Channelfix.com. This involved taking the crew out and filming documentaries in most unusual settings. He also got the opportunity of freelancing. Working with a friend, Matt Everett, this, he told me ‘afforded him the opportunity to develop his own ideas and shoot some interesting footage. One of these ideas is now a 22 minute documentary simply titled ‘Matigsalug‘. 

This is based on a day in the life of the Matigsalug who are found in the Tigwa-Salug Valley in San Fernando in Bukidnon province, Philippines. "Matigsalug" is a term, which means "people along the Salug River" the Matigsalug is a distinct sub-group of peoples from the Manobos and are one of the ten indigenous tribes in the Philippines. (These came from South China thousands

of years ago). Tadhg is editor of the film and co-producer along with his friend matt Everett. 

To reach their destination they had to cross the Davao River on a raft. Tadhg informed me that it was a terrifying crossing as it had been raining heavily and the current was particularly treacherous. Tadhg takes up the story. “After we made it over we had to climb 2000 feet up the mountain with all our gear (they live 4000 feet above sea level).
The tribe didn't know we were coming at all. They don't have phones, running water or electricity. We found out on the way up that one of the family members, I think it was a daughter, had committed suicide and they had buried her the previous day. 

When we landed, they got a bit of a fright to say the least. They thought that we were from a charity, as they don’t normally see white people in that part of the country”. On the following day, the tribe had come to understand what Tadhg had intended to do and were very cooperative and delighted despite the loss of one of their family members. Morning for the Matigsalug starts at 3.30 am every day. Tadhg takes up the story “The daughter in law starts a chant to wake everybody up. The chant would put your hairs standing on end. They then start going about their business. It takes an hour and a half to two hours for them to fetch the water. They then make breakfast, which consists of rice, their main diet when it’s in

season. Out of season they eat cassava roots.
We brought some treats like crackers, noodles and the like. They only eat things like that once a year. After we collected the cassava roots, we eat some more. They then sacrificed a chicken, to ward away evil spirits from the house, the family and guests. They hang a saucer of blood from the ceiling. (All of this can be seen in Tadhg’s film)  

They never go to western doctors and if one of them develops an illness, they try to treat it and after that they ‘leave it up to God’. They have been living the same life as their ancestors for thousands of years.” After that big breakfast it was time to go hunting for food and Tadhg was keen to get involved in this particular exercise. He takes up the story, “The father of the house made a bow and arrow .The bow and arrow is used for hunting wild birds. He also made a spear from bamboo that was lethal altogether. That was for hunting wild boar, unfortunately we didn't come across any that day.

Off the happy group went foraging for food in the river. This ardours journey took them over an hour to reach their destination. For the Matigsalug this is a daily routine. Tadhg again takes up the story “In the river the whole family look under rocks and they gather together frogs, shrimp and fish. They made fire using only sticks and they cooked the rice, cassava roots and the fish etc in the bamboo. They also added wild herbs and greenery from the river bank for flavour. 

They cut the bamboo into sections and they fill it with the food and water. They then seal the end and place them against a branch over a fire. After an hour they're cooked to perfection. I ate a frog that day; they're tasty enough but not too sure why the French are so mad about them. After we left the river we made our way back to their home. Again it was some trek back and we were fairly tired by now.

 There wasn't a bother on the rest of them. The scenery in the failing light makes you forget about any tiredness you might have though. When we got back to the house the daughter in law crushed corn seeds in a mortar and pestle and mixed it up with brown sugar. They then danced and chanted a song about us. The song explained how they were so happy that we visited where they lived and especially happy that their children have gotten to see white people so that they won't be so afraid the next time.

We then packed up and gave our thanks and left them to it. On our way down the mountain we were so tired that we could barely stand. One of the locals invited us into his house and they had native coffee with sugar cane juice ready for us. I hadn't drunk coffee in twenty years but it was the

nicest stuff I've ever tasted. That got us through the last leg of the journey. We crossed the Davao River and slept on the floor in the local school that night. The rain outside was so strong that we couldn't go anywhere else.

That was without doubt the best experience I had in the Philippines. Even though the family had nothing, they gave us everything they had. Considering that they were also in deep mourning, I couldn't get over it. Maybe we took their minds off things, who knows?

We also found out after that, that the army was sent into the mountains on a patrol when they heard that we were going up there. This is in the heart of Mindanao, which is kidnapping country. The place where we were is controlled by the communists and they don't kidnap that many people. Two week before we arrived, a Belgian journalist was kidnapped so it was no joke at all.

I love this picture!

 Of course in hindsight it added a bit more adventure to the trip, even though we were so busy we didn't have much time to think about it. We were informed that the kidnapping is being carried out by Muslim groups. It was only when we got back to base we realised the risks that we had taken. Looking back it was well worth it though, something I'll never forget”. 

This particular film of Tadhg’s is yet not available for viewing at Channelfix.com, and it’s uncertain if we will get the opportunity to see this  beautifully filmed documentary in this country unless the Company sells it on..

Eddie Cantwell (c)