Hagibbat: Unifying Mangyan, defenders of land
WRITTEN BY: EDITORS ON APRIL 22, 2012 NO COMMENT
By PHILIPPINE TASK FORCE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS (TFIP)
*published in Northern Dispatch Weekly

The indigenous peoples of Mindoro island are believed to first dwell in the coastal areas. They are generally called Mangyan, but are subdivided into seven tribes. However, because of encroachment by foreign colonizers, landlords and pasture ranchers, among others, they were forced to leave their ancestral lands and settle in the upland places and mountains.