Aeta Community

Religious Beliefs and Practices

The Aeta tribes believe in a supreme being who rule over lesser spirits or deities. They
worship Apo Namalyari, whom they regard as the creator, believed to inhabit the mountain top
of Pinatubo in Zambales (Delica, "Preserving the Mountains"). There is no specific mention of
other gods of the Aeta, but one source mentions that the four manifestations of the "great creator"
who rules the world, Tigbalog, is the source of life and action; Lueve takes care of production
and growth of goods; Amas moves people to pity, love, unity, and peace of heart; while
Binangewan is responsible for change, sickness, and death. These spirits inhabit the balete tree.
The Aetas are also animists, believing in environmental spirits - anito, the good, and
kamana, the bad spirits. They believe that there are spirits that live in the environment such as in
the sky, river, sea, mountain and others.
The Aetas believe that evil spirits are the usual cause of illness as punishment for
wrongdoing. The more serious disease are believed to be coming from the supreme anito (spirit),
while lesser ones from the lesser anitos. Bad spirits like laman nin lota (spirit of the earth), are
believed to possess or enter the human body and cause sickness. The Aeta of Morong still
practice a ritual called kagon, a spirit healing performed with dance, song and guitar music to
exorcise the dimonyo from the sick person. Wearing a necklace of stringed pieces composed of
sticks are believed to ward off such bad spirits.
The anituan, among the Pinatubo Aeta in Zambales, is a séance in which a manganito or
a medium cures an illness by communicating with the spirit causing it. The ritual establishes
close communication between the mortal and the supernatural world, so that misunderstandings
between mortals and spirits may be resolved. The first stage of the manganito séance is to find
out what caused the sickness. The second stage is to eliminate the cause from the sick person.

Influence of the Lowland Culture

They may have adapted the sedentary way of life, yet they still continue to roam the
forests in search of food, especially in times of scarcity. They may have been introduced to
lowland viands, but they still relish the old favorites, like camote and other root crops which they
gather from the forest.
The traditional forms of healing, use of native costumes, and other indigenous beliefs
have been greatly affected by the intrusion of modern medicine, popular culture, and institutional
religions. Common among all Aetas in the village, both young and old, is their unshakeable faith
in God. They explain occurrences in life and death, sadness and joy, pain and relief, and wealth
and poverty to the “will of God” (“kaloob ng Dios”, “tadhana ng Maykapal”). At the same time,
old beliefs persist, such as taboos on calling one’s in-law’s name, farting in public, not offending
the spirits that dwell in nature, to name only a few (The Park, The Community and The Aetas: A
Situationer). For example, the oldest man in the Canawan village of Morong, Mang Aquino
Malunik, who is estimated to be about ninety years old, but appeared thirty years younger, was
asked what he wanted to eat. He replied, "Kung ano man ang ipagkaloob ng Diyos" ("Whatever
God provides.") The response shows adaptation of the lowland religion, particularly the name of
Biblical God.

Comparison with the Christian God and Spirituality

Apo Namalyari is the Aeta's god of creation, their counterpart of our God who created the
world and all that is in it including man himself. However, they believe that their creator god can
only take care of trees that are useful to the Aeta, making their creator god limited in power
according to our standard. This was made evident when, during President Marcos' time, then
First Lady Imelda had a project which enjoined the Aeta to plant ipil-ipil trees. When the Aeta
realized that the trees were useless because they do not bear edible fruits for man nor for birds,
they decided to burn the trees down and plant bananas instead. At another instance when DENR
undertook reforestation by planting gmelina, ipil-ipil, and auricoliformis, though the community
elders prohibited the cutting of these trees, the younger generation believe that Apo Namalyari
could not possibly care for the trees that have come from the lowlands.
When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1990 devastating the forest, the Aeta performed a ritual
called talbeng to appease Apo Namalyari, asking him to halt the eruption and bring back the
forest to them. Christians do not perform rituals to make right with God. Instead, we repent for
our wrongdoings, ask for forgiveness and obey Him. Besides, our God is not appeased by rituals.
We are restored into fellowship with God by the sincerity of our hearts in seeking his
forgiveness.
The animist background of the Aeta also attributed a supernatural identity and powers to
Mt. Pinatubo itself. Shimizu relates an incident when he and Pan Bangay hiked close to Mt.
Pinatubo; that place suddenly darkened under a thick blanket of fog and it started to rain heavily.
Pan Bangay was frightened because it was unusual to have such occurrence in the midst of the
dry season. He took a straw from Shimizu's buri hat and burned it shouting to Apo Pinatubo as
the smoke rose:
Pakida-ep mo Apo Pinatubo, agmo kay kik oranan
Apo Pinatubo, kapapa-ingalo ya kik nabaha
ang! (Grandfather Pinatubo, please smell the
smoke. Don't expose us to the rain, have pity
for we will get wet!)
Pan Bangay later insisted that the rain stopped and the weather cleared because of his
offering and prayer.
Christians pray to God and not to the creation. We do not believe that mountains and
rivers and the environment have spirits. There seems to be some similarity between this and
Christian's belief of territorial spirits. However, we do not pray to the territorial spirits, but
rebuke them in the name of Jesus.
The Aeta of Clark, Pampanga whom we was able to interview, are already third
generation settlers. They have adopted the lowland culture and have even embraced the Catholic
religion. They refer to Diyos (God) as the All-Knowing and Merciful. They acknowledge the
sovereignty of God and that it is He who provides for what we need. They are able to say
"kaloob ng Diyos" (will of God), and "ano man ang ipagkaloob ng Diyos" (whatever God
provides). They attend Mass in the Catholic chapel built in their community. They participate in
fiesta celebrations including "karakol" or street-dancing. Through their interaction with the
lowlanders, they have better knowledge of sickness and cure, although for some sickness, which
the doctor seem not able to cure, they still consult the manganito to do the healing ritual.

Reason for the Change in Religion

 Natural disasters especially the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 forced the Aetas to
move from their homes in the mountains. From what we have learned from the interview with
the Aeta, the government gave them a temporary land where they could live while awaiting the
end of the eruption.