'Negrito 08,' dokumentaryo ni Kara David (Full Episode) | I-Witness

Overview

Kara David travels to Sitio Kinabuan in the Sierra Madre to learn how a Dumagat/Remontado community is maintaining its culture amid rapid change. Reaching the remote settlement in Tanay requires an overcrowded jeep ride and a long trek across muddy trails and several rivers. Residents, including sitio leader Mang Ando and Mang Abing’s family, welcome her into their homes.

Life in the Community

Residents rely on the forest and river for food. They fish, gather edible plants and roots, and grow or collect what they need. They value the mountain’s natural abundance and the relative freedom of life there, but outside pressures are affecting both their environment and daily routines. Residents complain that outsiders use electricity to catch fish, risking depletion of the rivers.

Contact with the wider world has also changed what people need. Since residents began eating rice regularly, they have become dependent on cash to buy it—at a high price in the remote settlement. Some earn money by carrying and selling rocks, though buyers are scarce. Children have begun adopting things they see in nearby communities, such as wearing slippers, and some have different hopes for their futures than their elders.

Ancestral Land and Cultural Change

The community’s caution toward outsiders is tied to a history of fear and displacement. Residents value living together on their ancestral land and want a secure homeland rather than being forced into villages where, they say, some Indigenous people end up begging.

David reflects on the contrast between material hardship and the community’s closeness to nature and sense of freedom. She concludes that modernization will continue, but hopes Indigenous people will retain their culture, ancestral ties, and knowledge passed down by their elders.

Featured Contributors

• Presenter: Kara David
• Featured contributors: Mang Ando, sitio leader; Mang Abing; and residents of the Dumagat/Remontado community.