PERSPECTIVAS DE FUTURO

After intermarriages between major descent lines of the Pat a Pangampong and Sharief Kabungsoan, apos developed, providing the right to land and titles in the sultanates. The initial seven major descent lines sub-branched again into 15, forming 16 royal houses (Masiu has two royal houses, which have the same apo). It is not certain when these 16 developed, since descent lines undergo fissions when one sub-line is strong enough to claim the highest status. The last royal house that developed was Domalondong in the 1970s. At this time, Mohamad Ali Dimaporo was the chairman of the 15 royal houses. He recognized the lineage of Domalondong, a brother of the apo of the Royal House of Butig, as the lineage of a 16^th Royal House. There have been further attempts to add a royal house. For example, the Sultanate of Tagoloan in Baloi wanted to become a panoroganan in the 1980s (Cayongcat 1984: 16), but the upgrade was not granted. The addition of a 16^th Royal House shows that the taritib can be altered and that it is possible to change the arrangement of the Pat a Pangampong. Nevertheless, to add or to subtract a royal house requires the agreement of all 16 royal houses and the 28 Mbabaya ko Taritib (they are translated as the Houses of Peers, Policymakers, Lawmakers, Pat a Datu [Four Datus], or Legislative Assembly). Each of the initial seven major descent lines in the pangampongs has four Mbabaya ko Taritib; there are thus 28. It is the descent line division before the intermarriages with Sharief Kabungsoan that comprise the area according to which the guardians of the taritib (the Mbabaya ko Taritib) are subdivided. Sultan sa Butig explains:

It is not allowed for panoroganan to have no datus. Meaning that these four datus are responsible for making taritib for their place. These 28 serve as the Legislative Assembly of the sultanate of the pangampong of Lanao. (Speech given in 2008, Marawi City, translated by Montia Jamilah D. Sarip, translation modified)

The descendants of the Founding Ancestors of the 28 Mbabaya ko Taritib are also called the supporters (pagawid) of the panoroganan. This does not necessarily mean that the 28 are from a lesser descent line. For Masiu, it is said that of the children of the apo Balindong, the two youngest, Maruhom Jalalodin and Maruhom Rahmatola, stayed with their father. Their siblings left the house, became connected to other places, and decided to support for leadership over the whole sultanate of Masiu the two brothers who stayed. Jalalodin and Rahmatolan thus became the lokes (carriers of the rights of the apo) of the titles Sultan sa Masiu and Datu a Cabugatan sa Masiu, the highest titles in the sultanate of Masiu and thus the pagawidan (supported) (Mednick 1965: 114). Their brothers became their pagawid. In the case of Eastern Unayan, however, marriage into the descent line of the Shariefs made the crucial difference. Amizaman and

Rombaan had seven boys and one daughter. The daughter, Lilangun, married Amerogong sa Kapai, a descendant of Sharief Alawi, and it was decided that her son, Punduma, would be the panoroganan and that his uncles would support him. The support was based on the one hand on Punduma’s descent through his father from Sharief Alawi (he could thus claim a higher descent than his uncles and cousins), and on the other hand on the marriage with Umpas, the former wife of the Dimasangkay sa Maguindanao and a descendant of Prophet Mohammad. This enabled him to claim equal authority to the Dimasangkay and it elevated the descent line of his children from the mother’s side. Further, it has to be remembered that women can claim titles for their sons and that it is said that the wishes of a woman have to be granted because of taritib, which demands paramount respect to women. The situation that Lilangun was the only daughter who additionally had married into a higher descent line might thus also have been a result of the decision to accept Punduma as leader. Some of the uncles of Punduma became the four Lawmakers and thus supported him. Others, however, did not agree and left the area. Mamintal married into the area of Bayabao and his descendant, Apha sa Borokhot, became the apo of the Royal House of Borokhot in Lumba Bayabao.

The determination of which genealogical lineage is supporter (pagawid) and which gets supported (pagawidan)²⁰⁰ is in most cases an individual process within the sultanates and no general rule can be applied here. Regarding Mala a Bayabao, the apo of the Sultan sa Marawi was the brother of Batara of Ramain-Ditsaan, whose descendants hold rights to the titles Sultan sa Ditsaan and Sultan sa Ramain, belonging to those supported in Mala a Bayabao. The Sultan sa Marawi instead belongs to the supporters. Marriages of the apos may decide who will be supported and who is a supporter, but other factors may also play a role in this determination.

Supporters and supported claim descent from the ancestor of the area in the major descent line, which, in the case of Mala a Bayabao, was Borawasan of Mala a Bayabao. Then they regulate who is the supporter and who is the supported. This regulation, however, is not as fixed as it looks like in the chart below; it goes along with descent lines and claims to certain titles but it can change through intermarriage. The uncle of the present Sultan sa Butig, Sultan Dalinambas sa Ragayan, carries a title of supporter. However, since his ancestor married the Bai a Labi sa Butig,

200 Authority in Lanao datu-ships is based on the people who support a chosen leader in exercising his or her authority. If the leader is not able to sustain his or her supporters through good leadership or other qualities, his or her authority will decline. This concept of leadership can similarly be found in patron-client relationships (see Teves 2000). In the Lanao sultanates the organization of supporter and supported (or patron and client) is connected to genealogy. One, however, has only a birthright to a title but not to authority, which still has to be earned by sustaining supporters.

the lineage has claims to both the supporters and the supported. Who is supported and who will support is then the result of descent line, marriage politics, (re-)arrangements of the kinship groups/clans, and the qualities of titleholders. These structures can additionally be subdivided into several sets of supporters and supported, if there are various people having claim to the same title. Further, the same group that is supported in one place can act as supporter in another framework.

The titles of the lineages presented in the chart of the 16 Royal Houses and the 28 Lawmakers are listed below, including the apos. These are founding ancestors of a lineage that is descended from the Shariefs (who give the right to a title) as well as from local datus/bais (who give the right to the land). An apo can be male or female but in most cases is male, as the paternal lineage is given priority, even though one preferably needs both lineages to claim a title. In addition, some lokes are included in the chart. Lokes are certain descendants and carriers of the rights of the apo; they were the former elders of the communities. The elders are the carriers of the rights of the apo and they are in the position to pick a titleholder among their clan members.

In case there is a split or reorganization of descent lines, elders might become lokes.

Graphic 7: Descent Line Divisions and Hierarchies in the Pat a Pangampong

The elders choose new titleholders, not only on the ground of their genealogical connections.

The names of apos are, in most cases, only known by specialists of the salsila or researchers. In addition, many titleholders do not know the titles of all 16 and 28, which is an indicator of the autonomy but also of the influential position of elders.

Table 5: The 16 Royal Houses, the 28 Lawmakers and the Demarcation Sultanates Royal Houses

(panoroganan)

Lawmakers

(Dwapolo ago Walo a Mbabaya ko Taritib)

Title Lineage Ancestor Title Lineage Ancestor

UNAYAN

201 The first titleholder of the title Sultan sa Butig was Gomogaw, the son of Utto (Uto); his father was Datu sa Palao sa Butig. Uto was one of the 11 Moriatao (offspring) of Baracat (11 Kalokes a Moriatao Baracat) who had the right to hold the title of Sultan sa Butig. Sultan sa Baracat sa Butig was the grandson of Dianaton Naim sa Butig and Paramata Asia sa Butig. He was married to the Bai a Labi sa Ramain, Bondayo. Their children were Datu sa Palao sa Butig and Bai sa Palao sa Butig. Both married and had several children. Eight of the children (two of them female) of Datu sa Palao and three of the children of Bai sa Palao (one of them female) were chosen as the lokes of the Sultan sa Butig.

202 This apo was a woman.

203 This title was founded in the 1970s. However, the genealogy can be traced back to a brother of Baracat.

204 He was, as of 2008, the Secretary-General of the 28 mbabaya ko taritib of Lanao.

MASIU Sultan of Bacolod Digoa of Bacolod Sultan

of Botod Lomalag

Sultan of Borocot²⁰⁹ Apha of Borokhot Sultan

of Galawan Domaraag

Sultan of Maribo Ibango of Maribo Sultan

of Maguing Mamintal

Sultan of Minitupad Okoda of Minitupad Sultan

of Talowan Danno

205 The first sultan was Marohom Sarip Mahaduddin. His title Sultan Samporna was changed into sa Masiu.

206 The titles Cabugatan and Sultan sa Masiu are exchanged (during one term, each title is held by the one descent line, and in the next term by the other) between two descent lines: those of Maruhom Jalalodin and Maruhom Rahmatola, both sons of Balindong Bezar of Masiu and Pindawadawa-Orai.

207 Sultan sa Lima Inged means sultan of the five places.

208 He was, as of 2008, the Secretary-General of the 16 panoroganan.

209 The first Sultan sa Borokot was Sultan sa Pinud, married to Paramata Balintao.

3.MALA A BAYABAO (Pat a Inged a Kiyasosoludaan o Bangsa o Pat a Pangampong sa Ranao)

Sultan of Bacayawan Sultan of Dalama Sultan of Madamba

Sultan of Sawir

Source: Macarampat [2008]; Tawagon 1987; Interviews by the author in 2007 and 2008.

The chart below presents the distribution of the in table 5 mentioned sultanates in the Pat a Pangampong. There are three hierarchical levels, those of the royal houses, the lawmakers and the Demarcation Sultanates. Only the highest male representatives of the sultanates are mentioned; they each have a female counterpart but she is usually not listed. In particular, the number of Royal Houses is uneven in relation to the area, depending on the regulations of the single sultanates. Each pangampong, or when subdivided, each suku, has four lawmakers. But some pangampongs/sukus have more than one Royal House, ranging from one to four per four Lawmaker. The four Demarcation Sultanates are also not equally distributed since there is no border to Baloi. They only divide the area around the lake. This unevenness can be seen as an indication that Baloi joined the other sultanates later. The unequal number of Royal Houses

210 Marohum Sarip Aulia Ala Awalo Zaman and Mrohum Sarip Sapaatula Akiro Zaman are mentioned as the Puphagidala sa Solotan sa Ramain, the heirs who are in line or vying for the Ramain sultanate. The first Sultan of Ramain was Maruhom Baraguir.

shows the autonomy of the single pangampongs/sukus. The even distribution of the 28 Lawmakers, however, signals that there is a loose but common order (taritib) of the whole Pat a Pangampong.

Graphic 8: Pat a Pangampong sa Ranao Chart provided by the Sultan sa Butig, 2008.

Royal titles of the 16 and 28 are connected to a certain area. Originally the inged, township, of which the sultan was responsible, including surrounding agamas (communities), would be related to the higher-ranking descent line in the inged. High-ranking titles are thus connected to the name of a place, an inged, where the sultan also had his torogan²¹¹. The Sultan

211 A torogan (derived from torog, to sleep), a palace residence of the sultan and his clan, is the venue where the sultan can hold his majlis (consultative assembly) and discuss solutions to social, political, and economic problems in his domain. A torogan is a sprawling wooden structure, usually 500 m² in a covered area, large enough to hold 1,000 or more people and 20 live-in families. The torogan in Bayang, which is 200 years old, is one such structure still standing. A torogan was built by pagawidan, and similar houses which are called mala a walai (big house) were built by the 28 Lawmakers. Other minor sultans also built their torogans in case there was a split of a major sultanate, like the one of Dayawan, which split from Marantao (one of the 28). The torogan in Dayawan became one of the places where selected Maranao datus (Madale 1996: 34) signed the Dansalan Declaration of 1935. With the decline of the sultanates, among others enforced by President Quezon, who did not recognize traditional titleholders,

sa Masiu is an exception. He carries the name of the pangampong and the place of the torogan was not Masiu but Taraka. This, however, may be a new development and has to be clarified through further studies. The following two maps present the approximate places of the lineage ancestors of the 16 and 28 within the Pat a Pangampong. This does not necessarily mean that the present titleholders will reside in these places.

Map 9: Map of the 16 Royal Houses and Their Approximate Places of Origin Handmade map by the author; proportions may not correspond entirely with reality.

a sultan might have a big house or use community or public places instead of a torogan. The office of the municipal president became the center of community activities and a place for celebrations. People build some torogan-like houses (rather concrete than wooden constructions) without being titleholders, like mayors or those who take a liking in the okir designs. If the owner of the torogan-like house is a government official, the function of the house may be similar to that of an ancient torogan. The Capitol Complex of Marawi City is a modern version of a traditional torogan. Sultans today, however, usually do not live in a torogan anymore.

Map 10: Map of the 28 Law Makers and Their Approximate Places of Origin Handmade map by the author; proportions may not correspond entirely with reality.