The Arumanen Manuvu Indigenous People of Bentangan, Philippines

"Probing the Spirits for Peace"

Photos by Ryan Anson, Stories and Captions by Yul A. Olaya

	Salde Tayuba and other members of Bentangan's CVO return to their village after a morning patrol. Since 1997, 100 men from the area have armed themselves to protect their ancestral domain from incursions by cattle rustlers and land grabbers.
	Jonathan Barat scans the hillsides near Bentangan for potential intruders. Barat is one of four CVO militiamen who provide daily security for farmers when they work in their fields. Although Bentangan's predominantly Arumanen Manuvu residents once enjoyed harmonious relationships with their Muslim neighbors, the 2000 war aggravated tensions along ethnic and religious lines, and eventually led to an influx of arms in the area.
	During the Guana ceremony, Barangay Chairman Dahel Mamporok, left, and Temu-ay Apolonio Panday ask Franklin Salilin about the possibility of increased violence in the area after recent clashes between CVO militias and rogue MILF forces left several people dead in the nearby village of Rancho.
	Ukat Ancosin, a farmer and member of Bentangan's CVO, grazes his carabaw with the aided protection of a 30 Calibre M1 rifle. In spite of Langkat's rejection of all forms of violence, the theft of more than 30 carabaws and a couple of a massacres in the late 1990s compelled the men to take up arms to protect their property and livestock.
	Dancers perform the sayaw to locally-produced music called Deyorey. For the people of this community, the weekly dance restores a sense of peace and continuity in an environment constantly threatened by conflict.
	Rain or shine, the people of Bentangan perform their traditional sayaw every Saturday. The dance primarily functions as a way of expressing and preserving their culture. The sayaw, says dance troupe leader Rufino Amado, is also a means to promote peace.
	Nene Pangulima, middle, joins other Arumanen Manuvu dancers as they practice the intricate steps of the sayaw.
	In the holy bintana, Naning Aponilar and her son, Marvin, 2, pray to the Gimukod for healing by touching a sacred tubao attached to the home of the spirits.
	In a dramatic conclusion to the Guana ceremony, ancestral spirits exit their human hosts, leaving these elderly walian exhausted, yet more informed about the future of their community.
	Franklin Salilin, the clairvoyant healer of Bentangan, examines the location of evil spirits that have occupied the body of Bolin-as Lantong and caused her great pain. During this healing ceremony, which is known as Panahuwahawiran, Salilin serves as a kind of lawyer in behalf of Lantong to defend the woman from negative spiritual forces.
	Members of the umpongan search for medicinal plants while Mangan Anlumbos, an adherent of Langkat and caretaker of the communal farm, prays to the spirits of the soil and crops for peace and abundance.

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