Moro legend of the first bird

Title

Creator

Saraman, Salip Abu-Bakr

Language

English

Year

1928

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Cctober, 1928 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 9 by selecting lands not needed or unsuitable for farm land, setting out teak plantations by con tract with the natives and on condition that they plant their perennial crops of fruit or vegetables among the teaktx “In the course of time various methods of reafforestation were followed. At the present time the forest agricultural system is chiefly practiced, which combines forestry and agricul 60,000 Board Feet of Hardwood Lumber Per Hectare Destroyed to Plant Such Little Fields ture and allows the natives to interplant farming crops with the rows of teak. For the purpose of sooner obtaining the desired covering of the gound, perennials are interplanted, in which case the improved varieties are used by preference.” These teak forests not only supply Java with an abundance of this excellent wood but enable her to export from 15,000 to 30,000 cubic meters annually and to have an annual net profit of from five to six millions florins (approximately equal in pesos). Such a system of combined timber-growing and agriculture and the turning of a destructive element of the population to a productive enterprise, to us in the Philippines and especially in Mindanao seems almost too ideal to be true. But when we think that this system was evolved under conditions similar to those existing here, there appears no insur mountable obstacle to making a beginning in the same direction, here in Mindanao: provided laws and policies were more rationally adapted to conditions. The establishment of certain strategically Moro Legend of the First Bird By Salip Abu-Bakr Saraman Once there lived a Moro and his wife who had only one son. They lived near the river and earned their living by fishing. When the boy was ten years old, the father died. So the mother and son moved to the nearest town. The mother was very proud, but not too proud to work. She washed clothes for the wealthy Datus of the village. The boy helped his mother by carrying the water for the washing. By continued hard work, the mother soon earned money enough to buy a piece of land. The next year she was able to buy a cow and a carabao. Now that she had the land and animals with which to work the land she stopped washing for the Datus. The mother and son worked the ' land and by their combined efforts they were able to earn a good living from their crops. Now came the time for all people to clean the graves of their relatives, called the month of Shaban (February). It was decided that the boy would go to clean the grave of his father while the mother stayed at home and cared for the farm. Early one morning the boy started out to find the grave of his father and clean it. He wandered about the forest for several days but could not find the grave. It had been a long time since they had moved located forest reserves, and the bringing to bear of the police powers of the local government to protect these reserves as other public property is protected is more likely to be successful than the making of reservations and trying to retain these primitive people in them. If a tribal taboo is effective in causing these people to quit certain land, a governmental taboo should also be made effective in keeping them out of forest reserves. The hill people, who are the most active caingineros, would then turn to the less timbered, grass or brush land and every encouragement should be given them to do so. Where these people still occupy forested land, some combined forestry-agricultural scheme such as that in Java would avoid the converting of these lands into waste land, when they moved on they would leave a young forest instead of brush or cogon. Another outlet for the people is work on plan tations. While not useful in the more exacting or skilled work, they are well adapted to certain phases of plantation work and many are so employed. These often learn better methods of cultivation, animal breeding, etc., acquire their own farm and settle there. Every modern plantation is a civilizing center in Mindanao. The civilizing and settling of Mindanao will go on, whether wisely guided or no, and the demand for land, that tremendous urge which may be guided but not stopped, is forcing the away from where the father was buried. All of the people returned from cleaning graves but the boy. The mother became anxious and asked all of her neighbors if they had seen her son. They all said no. The next morning she started out in search of him. She wandered many days in the forest but did not find him. She did not eat or drink during all of this time, yet she did not become hungry or thirsty. During her wanderings she found the grave of her husband. It had not been cleaned, so she knew her son had not been there. That night she slept on a mountain top. The next morning when she awakened she said to herself, “I will never find my boy again.” Then she prayed saying, “O Allah, I will give you my life for the life of my son! I am now alone and have nothing to live for!” She arose and jumped from the cliff. Instead of being killed, she floated in the air. Wings came out of her shoulders and she became the first bird. This is the bird we now call kuhao. Early every morning you can hear it calling, calling, like a person in sorrow. It is the mother calling for her lost boy.—From Moro Outlook. The Philippine Guaranty company, Incorporated (Accepted by all1 the Bureaus of the Insular Government) | Executes bonds of all kinds for i Customs, Immigration and Internal Revenue. j DOCUMENTS SURETYSHIPS j For Executors, Administrators, Receivers, Guardians, etc. ' We also write Fire and Marine Insurance Low rates iberal conditions ocal investments oans on real estate repayable by monthly or quarterly instali ments at low interest Call or write for particulars Room 403, Filipinas Bldg. P. O. Box 128 Manila, P. I. OXYGEN Compressed Oxygen 99.5% pure HYDROGEN Compressed Hydrogen 99.8% pure ACETYLENE Dissolved Acetylene for all purposes WELDING Fully Equip ped Oxy-Ace tylene Weld ing Shops BATTERIES Prest-O-Lite Electric Stor age Batteries Philippine Acetylene Co. 281 CALLE CRISTOBAL, PACO MANILA, P. I. The long shoremen’s strike at Cebu has con tinued crippling shipping there during the past month, so that some ocean ships are omitting calls at Cebu until the question is settled. Gov ernor Stimson has practically assumed personal charge of the business of keeping peace and order in Cebu, where the Constabulary is on the job. He has made it known that where public order is involved, appeals may be sent direct to him; his letter to Director Cruz of the labor bureau is an important interpretation of his Cornejo letter. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL

Media