ABSTRACT

An Inquiry on the Communication Systems of the Agusanon Manobos

in Social Development

by

Maria Fatima “Jofti” A. Villena

Agusanon Manobo is the fifth largest fraction of the Mindanao “lumadnon”. But the least
explored, meaning, very little has been written about them as well as the communication aspect of
any ethnic group. Their plight and condition has been quite ignored by most researches and
studies about them – their injustice, poverty and violation of their rights as human being.

The project aims to discover, describe and understand the role of the communication
systems of Agusanon Manobos in their struggle for social development. It aspires to come to a new
understanding of the relationship of communication and social development. Apart from this,
traditional/indigenous communication systems, its stages and processes will be showcased and
the present issues/problems confronting the community will be exposed.

Further, the project will aid in the promotion of ideas on possible strategies and formulation
of theories that would help marginalized and oppressed people to realize their potentials to
contribute to national development. This also will fill in the gap of research studies on indigenous
people, which are usually focused only on showcasing rituals and traditional practices without
offering answers on how these practices manifest the community’s sentiments and thoughts on
their plights and how it is used to combat feeling of hopelessness and motivate active participation
from the community.

The project will be using the methods of ethnography and socially-shared inquiry in data
collection. Output will be a full-length video documentary of 1 ½ hour and profile/manual/booklet of
the Agusanon Manobo – demographic, geographical, profile, facts about their communication
systems and social issues.
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I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Statement of the Problem

This project aims to understand the communication systems prevailing in the area and
utilized by the Agusanon Manobos, both the traditional and current forms. Moreover, the project
deems to identify the major social issues/ problems besetting the community and how they act on
it. Further, how are these issues manifested in communication, will be discussed.

Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the communication systems prevailing in the area, both traditional and
current in forms? Criteria used to identify needed communication systems for this
study are: indigenous, accessibility, capable of being managed by them,
participatory, capable of influencing consciousness and raising awareness, using
minimum and appropriate technology, and producing change that is self-generated
or anything that the community suggest to be a criteria for this purpose.

2. How do these systems work? (stages, phases, if there’s any)

3. What are the major social issues/problems confronting the Agusanon Manobo
community?

4. How the community used the available communication systems to achieve their
goals of social change?

5. How are the issues manifested in communication?

6. What is the relationship of communication to social change in the context of this

project? (to arrive at a new understanding of the relationship)

Research Design

The project will utilize both methods of Ethnography and Socially Shared Inquiry (SSI).
This combination will aid the researcher/enabler in further probing to the issues confronting the
Agusanon Manobos, especially relevant to their social development. Further, with these methods,
community participation is stimulated, which would lead eventually to a unified social action.

The plan is to undergo an in-depth study and produce a full-length video documentary
featuring the ethnic group, Agusanon Manobo. Project will be done by the group themselves with
the researcher/enabler functioning as “facilitator, therapist, mentor and organizer.”
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Pre-production stage will include sharing, brainstorming sessions facilitated by the

researcher/enabler. Consensus building will soon follow after several sessions. The group will have
to come-up with a unanimous decision on what to include in the documentary –
issues/problems/conflicts, details of the problem/cause and effect of problem and communication
systems existing and used in resolving identified conflicts. In other words, the community will be
deciding on the content, key players to form the core group and delegation of tasks. Core group will
undergo mini-workshops and training to facilitate their learning of concept development and video
production, which includes research, writing of script, and shooting proper. This stage will
particularly employ the procedures, techniques and tools of SSI.

Production phase, on the other hand, is going to use the ethnographic methods, and which
will therefore be included in the documentary itself. Traditional media, which are currently used, will
be included in the shoot. These are the rituals/rites, dances, material culture and other visual/print
presentations. Key informant and interviews with other members of the Agusanon Manobo
community will also be a part of the shoot. The core group will be having their major contributions
in this stage.

Lastly, post-production stage will involve: evaluation of data gathered, viewing of the shot
scenes, formation of the documentary and writing of script. Brainstorming sessions will again be
set for these purposes. Editing will be in Manila but an initial copy will be sent for the groups
approval, then, final adjustments based on the community’s suggestions will be accommodated.

Audio-visual aids will be employed to effectively facilitate the smooth progress of the
project and determine how far the group has accomplished. These tools are: flip charts (list of
ideas), journals and diaries (written documentation of daily activities), audio tapes and cassette
recorders, bulletin boards, and other visual aids). These are, of course, according to what the
group will decide on what is the most effective and adaptable to their socio-economic status and
attainment. In case most are illiterate, the researcher/enabler will think of other tools that can
accommodate these members of the community. Re-echoing of results for each stage of
production is necessary to get the consensus of the community.

A written report/manual and a full-length, 1-½ hour video documentary will be the output of
this project. The written part will include the profile of the Agusanon Manobo, issues/problems
presently confronting them and a detailed description, explanation of their communication systems.
Part of the plan will be the publication of this manual. Both manual and video documentary will be
translated to the Manobo language.

Research Setting

The setting of the project is in Agusan del Sur, northeastern part of Mindanao. This is
found in the CARAGA Region (Region XIII). Majority of the inhabitants are the Manobo ethnic
group, which is also situated all-over Mindanao. The researcher/enabler has taken particular
interest in the Manobo group of Agusan, those within the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
(AMWS) near the Agusan River. This are stretches over eight municipalities namely: San
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Francisco, Rosario, La Paz, Loreto, Veruela, Bunawan, Sta. Josefa and Talacogon. Communities
in the barangays of La Paz, Loreto and Bunawan will be the primary ‘research participants’;
specifically, barangay Sabang Adgawan of La Paz, Katipunana of Loreto and Mambalili and San
Marcos of Bunawan. Changes in the selected barangays are possible since over-all conditions in
the locality are still to be checked. Usually, AMWS experiences seasonal flooding from December
to March; thus, floating communities have emerged. The researcher/enabler will also try to access
these communities. Agusan Marsh is the biggest swamp forest in the Philippines, considering its
vastness; significance in the environment is also high that issues on preservation and conservation
are of major concern. Moreover, these issues are affecting the inhabitants; thus, protection of their
rights is very important. These are some of the reasons the researcher/enabler felt significant to
respond to.

Sample Size and Sample Design

Barangays especially in remote places are usually small in size; thus, all are ‘research
participants’. The entire community will be asked to participate in the sharing/brainstorming
sessions. The community members will be the one to choose those who will form the core group.
Target participants are those pure Agusanon Manobos since population of migrants are also
growing.

Selection of key informants are also within the discretion of the community but will be
drawn by purposive non-probability sampling method and guided by the following criteria:

a. Age, if possible a member of the council of elders in the community

b. Position (one who has authority in the community)
c. Knowledge level (those who have the grasp on pertinent issues, communication
systems and traditional practices of the community)
d. Respected member of the community
e. Or based on the recommendations of the community.

II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Studying indigenous people is an interesting and significant endeavor because of the

following concepts:
1. Many of the indigenous ethnic communities have preserved their colorful,
elaborate and unique institutions and cultural practices.
2. Indigenous people are considered important links to the Philippine’s past.
3. Despite what has already been written about the different ethnic
communities, very little research has actually been carried out among
them by way of systematic field work.

The researcher’s interest to study the lives of ethnic groups exceeds from the need to
identify and know their way of life. It is in relation with her deep concern for the plight of the ethnic
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communities in this age of globalization. Their constant struggles for self-determination moves her
to somehow help them uplift themselves.

It is also necessary to reiterate in this proposal the contribution of this endeavor to both
industries – communication and anthropology. The researcher feels that both have their own share
of misgivings considering the fact that after conscientious effort of looking at related literatures and
studies much are still left unexplored and the absence of significant data on the Agusanon Manobo
reflect the gap. In the field of communication, very few invest on studying the communication
systems, processes, structures, patterns and means of a specific ethnic group. More studies are
focused on linguistics (language) but the communication systems are left untouched. Others limit
themselves to describing rituals on birth, death, marriage and religion without really going deeper
on discussing the symbols/codes evident on these rituals especially in dances. Non-verbal form of
communication is entirely unexplored.

Problems impeding the socio-economic growth of the communities and how

communication is used in addressing these problems are not yet discussed.

Though, the researcher is aware of the contributions of these studies but would it be more
significant if these endeavors advocate social development. These kinds of research are the most
appropriate forms of promoting social development since data are collected, organized and
analyzed systematically through social science methods. Unless documented in a manner that is
long term, there will be great difficulty to preserve and protect the interests of the indigenous
people, especially those ethnic communities unknown to people. In totality, national development is
at a greater risk since there is a possibility of eroding indigenous ethnic cultures as important links
to the country’s past. The researcher then is conceptualizing the best means to document, to
effectively inculcate appreciation and develop a sense of national history among possible
readers/audience of this project. The methodologies to achieve these aims are explained further in
chapter three.

The findings of this project will benefit the following institutions:

The academe of different communication institutions. This project will help in promoting
ideas for further studies, which would open discussions on possible strategies and theory
formulations. Theories, which would best apply to further understand the plight of grassroot people.
Aside from this, the project offers awareness to the social problems plaguing ethnic groups and
gives opportunity to conceptualize communication means of addressing issues through
participation of the communities and complement other devices already present in the area.
Academicians can do this through engaging themselves in projects requiring fieldwork. Then, they
can handover this learning experience to their students and also let them engage in the same
endeavor. Through these exercises, students will appreciate more the Philippine culture with the
indigenous people as an integral part of it.

The social scientists and anthropologists. This project, how small it may seem, will at least
help in filling in the gap in studies regarding Philippine IP customs, traditions, beliefs and social life
with emphasis given to one of the least explored area – communication. Upon looking at this
project, possible researches will be on mind. Communication is a part of culture. It is a social
process. Therefore, what is the best way to study communication patterns, systems, practices,
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structures and ways but through analysis of symbols, codes used in rituals and traditional ethnic
practices or exploration of the non-verbal communication inherent in the culture or understanding
how the flow of communication within this communities are done. One observation of the
researcher is the little attention given to the nonverbal aspect of communication within the IP
communities and how it has been utilized in their formation as one body and social development.
Since this project will also discuss on the communication systems both traditional and current and,
which is focused more on the non-verbal expressions then it can provide ideas geared towards that
direction.

Future researchers. The study is helpful to future endeavors on this type of study
particularly those who will focus on the communicative ways and means of ethnic groups.
Bibliographical entries included in the study will be of great assistance in looking for references.

The communication/media practitioners. The project will strive to be a good example in

terms of standards in making a media artifact, which the media workers in the field may apply on
their endeavors. Accuracy of data and implementation of correct ethical interviewing styles will be
pushed for in making the project. Approaches on establishing good contact and rapport with IPs
through their involvement in the said endeavor will be utilized and at the same time documented for
the reference and application to reports and documentaries of reporters, directors, researchers and
other practitioners. This is to make a statement that stories on ethnic communities not only their
cultures but their plight as marginalized people is an interesting story and there is market for it. The
viewers/readers are interested in knowing their lifestyles and conditions. This is, needless to say,
that reports, articles on indigenous people are fluctuating in number over the years. News reports
and feature articles on these communities must be a regular see at the “Nation” section of all
newspapers or wherever they need be. Even be as a regular segment in the programs on radio
and television. There must be a call to this attention.

Readers/Audience. The project will provide critical awareness of the situation of the
indigenous people in the Philippines, specifically, the Lumad and motivate them to contribute and
take part as citizens of the country to help the indigenous uplift themselves.

The Agusanon Manobos. The project will serve as good depository of information, profile
of the Agusanon Manobos, their communicative systems, their situation and continuous struggle to
development and preservation. Moreover, the project aims to “enable” them as a community; thus,
they can have the capability to change and uplift their lives, on their own terms, and they will be
able to transform themselves socially for their betterment as community. The Agusanon Manobos
will have the chance to learn the “re-search” process through involvement since they have a big
role to play in the project and eventually use it to their own benefit and be able to learn and operate
communication equipment such as video.

III. GUIDING CONCEPTS

Premise

The ‘Era of Globalization’, that is, 21st century is characterized by:

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1. The promotion of economic growth and development through technological

advances.

2. Creation of the new face of capitalism – that is, all life form are commodities to
be sold. The continuous liberalization of commodities through pushing forward
neo-liberal policies creating “free trade” paves the way to this new face.

3. It is the interest of global economy vis-à-vis interest of local economy.

4. It is a violation both to the right of the people to develop on their own terms
and to a nation’s sovereignty.
5. Globalization is used by those powerful to give an illusion of economic
superiority and dominance to those poverty-stricken nations for the purpose of
manipulation and exploitation of resources, people’s rights and labor.
6. The gap between the rich and poor widens.
7. Marginalized people becomes even more marginalized, especially the
indigenous people.

With the detrimental effects, brought about by globalization, the indigenous people are now
in the forefront. They are most vulnerable to its effects. Today, the issue on ‘trade-related
intellectual property rights (TRIPs) looms and has add to the serious problems the IPs have to
contend with. This places them and their culture on the verge of extinction. TRIPs would enable the
use of indigenous people as guinea pig to experiments wherein DNA make-up will be examined
and copied. In other words, they are subject for cloning. Status of TRIPs agreement is now on the
table for discussions at the World Trade Organization. Where do this leave the IPs? Are they and
their culture commodities waiting to be sold?

In chapter one, the condition of Mindanao both as poverty and violent-stricken area was
pointed out. Mindanao, bombarded with the notorious acts of violence of Abu Sayyaf and
insurgency groups, worsened by the presence of the American troops and other environmental,
socio-economic-cultural leaves people on the edge.

Thus, various non-governmental organization civic, church and social groups have
contributed their share to this battle through forums, social mobilizations, education and formation
programs. Where does the part of communication or social science as discipline lies?

This project, how little may its contribution be, aims to respond to this challenge. With the
creation now of theories particularly focused on social change as part of its long term goal provides
a strong atmosphere for enthusiasm, motivation and hope. Thus, this endeavor desires to instill in
the minds of the Agusanon Manobos of Mindanao the importance of community solidarity and the
strength of community enablement. This is aside from the researcher’s desire to uplift the image of
Mindanao through the grassroot people - Agusanon Manobos and their struggle for determination.
That, it is within them the strength, which enables them to solve their problems, in their own terms,
and to answer even more to bigger challenges in the context of national development. It is by
having majority of these motivated and able communities that countries such as the Philippines can
combat the harmful effects of globalization. The strength of the people is mightier than the working
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hands of imperialism.

The commitment of this project to the enablement of social development is grounded to the
principles of community organizing or re-organizing, development and participatory communication.

Principles and concepts of community organizing are dealt on the formation of this of this
project’s foundation: to plant the seeds of motivation and confidence in the community. In this
project, the engaging of the Agusanon Manobos to a ‘re-search’ process through use of their own
ways and means of relating and interacting with one another. This will serve as a starting point
towards continuous involvement to small but encouraging endeavors such as this.

In the discussion of the value of communication to social development, concepts of

participatory and development communication will apply since both have contributions to its
progression over the years. Both, primarily, are concerned with the alleviation of the oppressed,
deprived and the marginalized: their education and building up of collective consciousness.

Here are some of the guiding concepts I adopted for this research:

On Communication and Social Development

According to a case study on the fisherfolks of Asian Social Institute (ASI) written by Mina
Ramirez, development and communication referred to an “interactive process through, which
persons or groups relate of interrelate around a common concern, enabling the self-expression and
self-determination particularly of the poor, deprived and oppressed people towards a quantitative,
qualitative and structural change in their lives.”

In this definition of communication, the following points are considered very important and
are emphasized in the administration of this project:

Interactive process – this happens through an ongoing dialogue within the

community and does not occur in a package of one-shot deal. It is free-flowing,
continuous contact within members of the group. It is a collective, collaboration of
exchanging ideas. It is delivery and response/feedback in a cycle – no beginning,
no end.

Relate or interrelate a common concern – a community, which creates contact

among its members or outsiders who share a common goal, aspiration, feeling or
situation in ways or means that are accessible and innate in them and reach a
consensus.

Enabling self-expression leading to self-determination – continuous contact,

interaction and interrelation provides the atmosphere for self-expression leading to
self-determination of resolving conflicts and addressing oppressive situations.
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Towards a quantitative, qualitative and structural change – with continuous

dialogical process, people’s reference to development will eventually change and
go for much higher development exceeding mere economic development. The
collapse of oppressive systems and the propagation of just, equal and fair
structures and mechanisms in the society for the benefit of every human being.

Man is a social being, as communication is a social process. Thus, man cannot live alone
but needs to interact, relate with his fellowmen to continue living and assert a meaningful
existence; and, communication is that way to interaction and connection. Moreover, development
of one’s self should not be taken apart from the development of the community. It should be a
collective effort because every human being is entitled to one’s growth and his
surroundings/’environment has to be a part of that growth. Development is for everyone and should
not be selfish.

Therefore, social development in this project evolves around the development of a human
being together with his environment and community as a whole. It encompasses the economic,
moral, spiritual and cultural development.

The ability of the human being to develop in all aspects of his being.

That he is able to progress together with his community as a whole.

That each member of the community has develop into this human being and
are now capable of social analysis leading to the deepening of consciousness
and understanding of situation.

That has led the community to critical awareness and is motivated to act and
address conflicts and issues confronting them.

In a way, this community ‘enablement has contributed to national
development.

That is social development and its entirety.

The definition applied within the context of Third World realities was appropriate since
unbalanced, power and economic social arrangements evolving from feudalistic structures and
long colonial status are manifested in the structural dimensions in communication processes:

1 monopoly
2 media manipulation
3 one way ‘top down’ communication

With these patterns, it is to conclude, “majority of economically or socially marginalized

people in the Third World have no access to media resources and have no control over them.
Therefore, the situation calls for more meaningful communication processes: decentralized people-
to-people communication; a move towards empathy, truth, sense of responsibility; and a two-way
responsive flow of communication.
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Development Communication and Community Organizing.

This is where the concept of development communication and community organizing as

twin processes of total human development comes in.

Development communication with this specific context is thus focused on empowering the
marginalized. That people may express themselves as communities or sectoral groups not only to
enable them to articulate their needs but to contribute to meaningful societal development is a most
essential objective of development communication.

Community organizing, on the other hand, is a way by which the marginalized and poor
people acquire power in a society.

Particularly in this project, concept of development communication will be used since

purpose of study is to start a small contribution to community capability building through training
and mini-workshops. While, community re-organizing will be the focused of this project. The
researcher/enabler is aware of the fact that the community is already organized and are conscious
of their situation but due to depression and eroded motivation brought about by worsening
conditions, the community was left uncertain and badly needs a perking up.

People’s Communication.

In a report made by Neville Jayaweera on Folk Media and Development Communication, the
part on Experiences in People’s Communication, the following reality bites made an impact an this
project:

Traditional forms of communication are by themselves not generally capable of

producing social change on any noticeable scale.

Traditional forms can be harnessed for effective social change when adapted and
backed by a strong motivation and social consciousness.

- awakened social consciousness and prior social impetus must precede the
use of traditional forms
- awakened social consciousness and prior social impetus are the
concomitants of a whole range of other variables such as commitment,
motivation, leadership, interpersonal communication and so on

Consciousness of the need for liberation is fundamental to an understanding of

people’s communication.

- emphasis on communication, whether technology-based or culture-based in

isolation from the central issues of our daily living and without taking into
account our social reality is misplaced
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- primary need is to fully comprehend and combat the various forces that
comprise the oppressive systems under which we live
- communication is ‘people’s communication’ only when it helps expose,
combat and overcome our oppression

Developing a strategy for liberation is the beginning and the essence of people’s
communication.

- identifying and analyzing the situation

- principal communication facility available to the oppressed was face-to-face
or interpersonal communication
- as consciousness grew and as groups solidified into cells and cells into
networks, interpersonal communication was supplemented by newsletters,
pamphlets, audio and video cassettes, popular theatre, song and dance but
focus was on cementing solidarity; a participatory process involving the
unfolding of consciousness, deeper self-understanding, community
education and collective action in a cyclical relationship, a trial and error
process
- consciousness and understanding developed not only through listening to
lectures or by reading books (theory), but equally through active struggles,
successes and failures experienced in the field (practice)
- choice of medium and content of communication was determined by the
levels of consciousness and the degree of solidarity attained by the people
- role of animateur is crucial
- networking is important. It implied decentralization, autonomy, flexible
responses and minimizing the risks of “party bosses”. It dispersed power
and provided the maximum space for participation
- traditional communication was never a substitute for mass media
- central communication reality was the consciousness of the people and their
mobilization for struggle. The development of the consciousness of
oppressed people was not the function of communication or of technology. It
was the product of animation, face-to- communication, interaction,
participation, trial and error and networking tools and forms of
communication were only aids to the process.

With these realities, the project focuses more on the advocacy of the people’s causes, in
this case, the Agusanon Manobos. Sees the types and forms of communication as support to the
process. Traditional and current forms are realized to be not in competition but to supplement each
other to effectively accomplish its mission. That this project will bring awareness to the practitioners
of the field to open their eyes to reality and not be deliverers of ‘empty’ information, meaning, those
which do not advocate pro-people causes. Practitioners who look at communication as limited to
the questions of who, what, when, where, why and how; but do not expose harsh realities of why
the people are suffering, passive communicators who blinded themselves of these truths. Thus,
oppression remains.
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Ethnography with Journalism

In the area of journalism, there is the prevailing issue on the emergence of new journalism. In
the book Interpretative Ethnography, a whole chapter was given to “New Journalism” for the
discussion of its points. The latter part of the chapter contains a section entitled, “Merging
Ethnography with Journalism.” To define, new journalism uses both methods of journalistic
reporting and narrative writings in preparing reports. In the same way as ethnographic participant
observation is also utilized by journalists to gather the meanings of a particular situation or
experience. With this definition, the writer’s task is to stay with the subject of the write-up over a
period of time to witness the unfolding of events first hand. For the new journalist, “it seemed all-
important to be to be there when dramatic scenes took place. New journalism with the aid of
ethnographic methods attempts to write about important public issues.

This new type adheres to the same basic principles of traditional journalism such as accuracy
and balance reporting, though with particular emphasis to avoid harm, the readers right to know
certain information and the writer’s moral obligation to make public the course of action they favor.
Emphasis is also given to balance truth telling against the principle of nonmaleficience, the amount
of harm that will be done to an individual or an oppressed group.

With the venture in writing culture, new journalism borrows from public journalism its purpose
of breaking old routines and manifest a desire to connect with the people and their concerns. It
writes ethnographies that move people to action and work, which promote serious discussion about
democratic and personal politics. The norms of journalism pave the way for public or everyday
journalism that advocated democracy by creating a space for and giving a civic (public) voice to the
biographically, meaningful, epiphanal experiences that occur within the confines of the local moral
community.

Local, participatory, civic, journalistic ethnography answers to the new readership – the
biographically situated reader who is a co-participant in a public project that advocates democratic
solutions to personal and public problems. The next level, transformation of public-journalism-as-
ethnography answers to the following goals; thus, public ethnography.
]

Helps citizens make intelligent decisions about private troubles that have
become public issues, including helping to get these decisions carried out;

Promote interpretative works that raise public and private consciousness;

Rejects the classic, heroic model of those good, investigative journalists who
“root out the inside story, tell the brave truth, face down the known public
officials, expose corruption and go on crusades”;

Seeks an ethnographer and a journalist who is an expert on public life, knows

how to listen, to hear and present consensus when it emerges, is also a full-time
citizen and is committed to the belief that public life can be made to work;
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Sees the writer as a watchdog for the local community – a person who writes
works that contribute to deliberative, participatory discourse, thereby maintaining
the public’s awareness of its own voice.

The discussion on new journalism and public ethnography is what the researcher means to
the possibility of two disciplines, to be in linked. In communication, journalism; in anthropology,
ethnography. With the condition of the times, journalism should be flexible enough to
accommodate changes the same way as ethnography. Primarily, the world now in great turmoil
requires certain drastic changes/measures to meet up with the fight such as overcoming
stereotypes, shying away from mediocrity, adaptability, acceptance of new norms and broadening
horizons of practitioners of both fields and enable a cross-over. Rigidity and adherence to strict
boundaries, rules of traditional journalism go nowhere. Journalists must use more of its analytical
abilities in gauging situations, which can contribute to the betterment of people being written about.

Journalism is more than just a profession. It is a vocation, the purest form of public service.
Public, civic, advocacy journalism, whatever labels/terms coined to it, carries a mission. Journalism
can be a very good advocate of pro-people causes. Journalism should stop from being just an
empty space guided by the dictates of advertising and ratings. Accurate reporting is the conduct of
duty, whereas, pro-people journalism is more than just an execution of duties. Journalism should
start advocating the rights of the people and must be firm in doing it. Thus, giving it a new face.

While the discipline of ethnography must go far beyond the rigidity of its boundaries, to
learn the rudiments of journalistic reporting and to accept that certain kinds of information are
significant to the public. Thus, facilitating advocacy through formation and education.

Role of Video as a Tool in Social Development

In this project, the researcher plans to use video as a tool for documentation. The
researcher believes the potential of video as an instrument for learning and depository of culture.
With video, it lengthens the period of preservation of the cultural social phenomena/processes of
the community. It also encourages participation among the community members and they are
motivated to act on the issues/problems confronting them because they believed on its power as a
communication medium to express their thoughts and sentiments.

The book, Participatory Communication, dedicated a section on the discussion of the role
of video in development communication. Video as medium was recognized for its potential to bring
about conscientization, to facilitate the process of democratization and social or political change, to
serve as a tool for power sharing as a means of transforming cultural values and as an alternative
to television via mass channels. According to Stuart, “its multiple uses open many frontiers of
helping people to change and to participate in the process of national development.”

Video becomes a force for human development extending to a remarkable degree the
capabilities of people for being responsible for their own lives. This encourages the strengthening
of community independence, solidarity in facing the issues confronting them but honest enough to
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admit need for assistance. Use of video primarily is appropriate for small groups and becomes a
powerful personal learning tool. The power of video feedback is unprecedented for behavior
‘mirroring’ and as a tool for gaining insights into one’s actions. This experience of the community,
seeing themselves in video, has potential for having strong influence to change their frame of
reference about themselves and expand their point of view. Video has been recognized as an
effective facilitator of the process of participation at the grassroots.

With the medium, it can allow people to share knowledge and experience using their own
initiative. People participation is highlighted; thus, it becomes a powerful factor, which brings about
social change. Because of the flexibility, manageability and adaptability of video training is made
easy at the local level.

Most importantly, video is the link to isolated groups of people who were deprived of
adequate communication with regional government. It created a network to support and encourage
traditional communities in their search for human and social rights.

Theoretical Perspectives

1. Ethnography and Communication

With the discussion made on the connection of communication, in the form of journalism
and anthropology in the form of ethnography, the possibility of relating and combining certain
disciplines are now made into full view.

Probing to other possibilities even more, the use of ethnography is in itself describing how
people communicate in particular contexts. Ethnography comes from the greek “ethos” meaning
tribe, race/nations and graphos, something written down. Thus, refers to a written report about a
group of people. It involves examining the patterned interactions and significant symbols of
specific, cultural groups to identify norms that direct their behaviors and the meanings people
ascribe to each other’s behaviors. It utilizes the use of direct observation and extended field
research to produce a thick, naturalistic description of people and their culture. 10 This is the
principle of “thick and thin description,” according to Clifford Geertz, a cultural interpreter. 11 This
means, a detailed recording of social phenomena. 12 Thick description is used to describe cultural
practices “from the native’s point of view.” Contrasted by “thin description, “ in which people merely
describe the behavioral pattern with little sense of what it means to the participants themselves. 13
Studies with findings derived from this method demonstrate the powerful role of human
communication in establishing and maintaining order in specific populations, settings or times.
Ethnographic researches also seek to understand how people think about communication in
particular situations. It also informs the readers about how a particular social issue is manifested in
communication.

Ethnography involves the following methods in data collection: participant observation,

informal and key informant interviewing, structured interviewing and household surveys and
collection of genealogies and life histories.
 15

Fieldwork is said to play a role in “consciousness raising” by extending one’ s view of the
world and challenging one’s assumptions about the nature of things. It is through fieldwork that all
these methods can be carried out. 14

Ethnography of Communication. The ethnography of communication is simply the

application of ethnographic methods to the communication patterns of a group. It is an attempt to
make sense of the forms of communication employed by the members of the group or culture. 15

There are two concepts presented in the book of Littlejohn, Theories of Human
Communication. First, the four assumptions of ethnography of communication given by Gerry
Philipsen, used by the researcher/enabler within the context of the project

Participants in a local cultural community create shared meaning

- in a given community, an outsider cannot dictate/ascribe meaning to
actions observed and must leave the ascribing to the community since this
has been a part of their culture and to help them realize this more through
developing the virtue of respect for culture

Communicators in any cultural group must coordinate their actions. There must be
some order or system to what is done in communication
- through shared meanings and ascriptions, ‘indigenous communicators’ in
a way have coordinated actions. Have already existing communication
systems before the researcher/enabler arrived in a community and this is
what she intends to find, describe and explain how it is used

Meanings and actions are particular to individual groups
- The researcher/enabler is careful to make generalizations, analysis and
evaluation of systems/structures to, which meanings and actions are
rooted.

Not only are patterns of behavior and codes different from group to group, but
each group also has its own ways of understanding certain codes and actions.

Donal Carbaugh has a different approach but inquires into same concerns as the first
concept.

Discover the type of shared identity created by communication. This identity is the
members’ sense of who they are as a group. It is a common set of qualities with,
which most members of the community would identify.

Uncover the shared meanings of public performances seen in the group.


Explore contradictions or paradoxes, of the group. 16

In attacking these problems three type of questions are pursued

Question of norms - look for the ways communication is used to establish a set of
standards
and the ways notions of right and wrong affect communication patterns.

Questions of forms – look at the types of communication used within the society.


Questions of cultural codes draw attention to the meanings of the symbols and
behaviors used as communication in the cultural community. 17
 16

Performance Ethnography. Victor Turner emphasized more on the concept ‘culture is

performed. Cultural performance involves the manipulation of various media that may be
experienced by eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch. 18

Public performances in a culture are like social dramas, in which the group works
out their relationship and ideas. 19 Noteworthy on these social dramas is the process that it
tends to follow.

First stage is breach, a violation/threat to community order. Followed by a crisis,

as members become agitated and take various sides on the issues raised by the breach.
Third phase, redressive or remedial procedures, members of the culture make
performances that mend breach or in some way return to a state of acceptance. This stage
involves most self-examination and is the place where new meanings are created as old
ones reproduced. Fourth stage is reintegration or restoration of peace. 20

This is primarily what the project would want to discover during her fieldwork – how do
indigenous communication flow.

Performance ethnography is significant because it broadens the field beyond its

traditional fixation on language and text to include embodied practice. This movement is
significant for the field of communication because communication itself is easily
understood as performance. 21

Validity and Reliability of Ethnography. Ethnography exposed itself to the “pains of

growing,” with its ever increasing critiques also comes its development in the field of social science
research The unraveling of innovative means to data collection and use of more documents and
materials that open the doors to a wealth of information. However, major issues questioning the
reliability and validity of data cannot be ignored. Issues on reliability mainly emphasize on the
following points:

Ethnographic researches usually operate as sole observers and interviewers

meaning there will be no point of comparison for assessment purposes.

They rely on their own field notes, which may include biases that distort what
is found.

Qualitative data makes them less reliable than quantitative data.


Ethnographers using participant observation are likely to react subjectively to
the people being studied. 22

These points on reliability have already been responded to by the methods used in
ethnography since
each are created to complement one another, to assess its truthfulness and accuracy. The book
Ethnography confirms the previous statement with the following suggestions on minimizing threats
to reliability:

Combine methods to check on the validity of what was learned from each
source;

Use multiple observational or interview methods;
 17

Interviews with ‘research participants’ and data from archival documents are
used;

Relate observations to quantitative data obtained from questionnaires;

Improvise behavioral methods for assessing the external validity;

Use of background information about the situation being observed. 23

In addition to the issues on validity, the booklet of F. Landa Jocano and colleagues,
Problems and Methods in the Study of Philippine Indigenous Ethnic Cultures, gave pointers to the
researcher on how to assess the key informant’s responses during the interview.

The ethnographer should inquire into the informant’s current emotional state, opinions,
attitudes, values, hypothetical reactions and actual tendencies of informant to behave or feel when
confronted with certain stimulus situations. Also to have an open eye to the informant’s ulterior
motives, if there are reasons that bar spontaneity, the desire to please the interviewer and moods.
These pointers are a precaution to subjectivity. 24

For maintenance of objective reporting, there are checks to detect distortion. Implausibility
check can be used if certain accounts given just not seemed to be plausible at all. Unreliability of
the informant can be detected after repeated interviews and are corroborated by other reports.
Knowledge of informant’s mental set and understanding of events give precaution in the selection
of informants and comparing of informants’ accounts with each other gives way for cross-checking.
25

2. Socially Shared Inquiry (SSI)

Ultimately, after all the discussions given to various theoretical perspectives, there is only
one method, which can describe the purpose of this project to the maximum extent. Socially
Shared Inquiry (SSI) clearly visualizes the direction this endeavor would like to take. Although SSI
will be used in combination with the methods of ethnography, it still gives the ideal atmosphere of
the course of the project. SSI facilitates the positive tone of the project. It is the ultimate guide to
‘community enablement.’

The book written by Dr. Herminia Corazon Alfonso, Socially Shared Inquiry, is a refreshing,
new approach to social science research, amidst all one-sided methods offered by social science
methods for the past years.

The idea of SSI stems from the coined term ‘disabling perplexity’ (DP). This is the
emergence of circumstances that disable the community from solving its problems, or render its
members helpless. For the community members to overcome the DP and free themselves from an
entrapment of sort is to make use of their very own knowledge or cognitions. Cognition is a vital
component where the DP and the key to overcome it as well are rooted. DP results from
(mis)conceptions and certain inadequate frames of knowledge, which individual members apply to
a situation. Overcoming the DP requires engaging the community to ‘re-search.’ This would refer to
the repeated questioning, examining, probing and inquiring by the very members themselves into
aspects of their community. A process known as recursion. It would focus on how they conceive
 18

their situation, what they think about themselves and how can their abilities reduce uncertainty.
This would encourage a variety of responses as part of their contribution/participation, which would
eventually lead to a consensus to concrete problematical situations and resolutions. And
communication, defined, as recursive, interactive “social production of meaning,” would be the key
process in bringing forth that knowledge distributed among the members of the community. 26

Central to this process would be the coming forth of a variety of discourses that could
‘show-up’ in what the community members (languaging), each with a different story to tell about
their own experiences of the DP, that could be ‘read’ for meaning. A discourse is a “set of meaning,
metaphors, representations, images, stories, statements and so on that in some way together
produce a particular version of events” or objects. These discourses/versions of an object/event
are potentially available through language, but “until the sounds or markings come to be shared
within a community, it is inappropriate to speak of language at all; shared, not in the sense of same
meanings of linguistic forms for all speakers/users, but of language being used as medium of
coordination of communication practices or its ‘performative function’ in human affairs. Emphasis is
that ...

each discourse brings different issues for consideration, and has different implications for what
ought to be done. 27

The ‘enabler’, outside researcher/facilitator, can facilitate the emerging discourses. This
can be done in two ways: (a) by encouraging sharing, a kind of mutual involvement in which
community members come to construct each other as belonging to the same whole, and which
would provide an internal precondition for (b) perturbation, a process of guarded conflict-
generation. Later facilitation may include making information available by the enabler, taking
advantage of previous enabling experiences or of a broader vision about “how the world works,”
and engaging a variety of established decision making techniques. 28

In SSI, self-reflexive inquiry, would mean ‘ordinary’ people turning inward to study
themselves concretely as ‘real’ people with a human face, by engaging in “narrative(s) of self-
reflexivity,” that is telling themselves stories about themselves as “embedded” individuals in the
context of a whole constellation of diverse backgrounds. The people, as their own re-searchers,
would stipulate their own purpose. 29

Recursion is a process that infolds upon itself, that is recycled or runs its own path again
but implies a different beginning. Process of this begins with the subject of re-search, the disabling
constructions of reality by the community in DP provoked by perturbations from the environment
and the enabler. The result of re-search – non-disabling shared constructions of realities – would
come about only with recycling of information through repeated interrogation, examination, re-
examination, search and re-search into themselves among the members, until they reach
consensus. 30

Graphically, a loop would arise whereby the result would be embedded in its own
beginning. The result would be its own input. This circular process would be part of the internal
structure of the community, so much that the outside influence would be viewed as mere
background and source of disturbance upon the community’s otherwise autonomous behavior.
These disturbances would be compensated for through the underlying recursive behavior of the
 19

community in DP. That is to say, each recycling would imply a different beginning even while
running its own path again. Different, because each time, something new or distinct would have
been learned that would reinforce their identity as a self-governing community. The whole SSI
process, facilitated by the enabler, would terminate after as many iterations as a consensus would
require as much share/portions of individual reality constructions as would be needed for melding
into a consensus.

The process of SSI would usually begin by translating a DP into a suitable frame. Here a
frame would be a structure of concepts constructed to clarify and draw a boundary around a DP so
that its eventual resolution would be aided and abetted. One purpose of adopting a frame is to
leave out distracting ideas, thereby focusing the re-search process on something manageable and
to the point. That is to say, it would define what is relevant to the community’s situation and what is
irrelevant; what counts as information, and would thus help to pinpoint and generate the very items
needed to overcome the DP. Constructing a frame that could zero in on the DP would require
bringing together in discourse the community members’ knowledge and the enabler’s perceptions
of their situation.

The items of information that would be generated in the context of a particular frame are
here called ‘poieta’ (from the Greek word, poietic, meaning ‘making’) are the product of
constructions. One can think of poieta as data that are not actively constructed to shed light on a
situation, and authenticated by a community to assure the bearing it is believed to have. 33

An operational construct need to be worked out. The construct would provide a functional
explanation of the DP, and would constitute an effort to make the frame operative. The frame, the
poieta and operational construct would require community consensus and an authentication of that
consensus.

Consensus means coming to a decision that is fully supported by everyone, in a process

where everyone’s contribution is recognized.

Authentication here would be an explicit confirmation by the members to no longer

question the consensus that has been arrived at. It would therefore entail going back to what has
been ‘condensed’.

Institutionalizing here would refer to a transition from re-search procedures that are
outside-enabled to research procedures that are internalized to the point that members could
engage them on their own; that is, without the enabler.

Community competence may be said to be in place when a community’s institutions

enable its members, perhaps after repeated involvement in outside-guided research processes, to
cope with problems beyond the particular project at hand and on their own.

Thus, SSI’s goal would be community enablement, meaning attestation to/confirmation of

enhanced competence. In the short term this would mean producing the knowledge and ways
necessary for dissolving the DP at hand, and in the process improving the community’s ability to
inquire into and decide on its own affairs. In the long term this would mean enhancing what is
called community competence to the point where the community could repeat the process of
 20

research in other domains of possible DPs on their own; that is, without outside assistance by an
enabler. 39

Socially Shared Inquiry to a certain extent would be used primarily as guide to the purpose
of its project, which is to stimulate participation of the community to undergo on a re-search. In this
case, the verbatim account of the SSI process above is necessary to capture the very essence of
the project. The project will be facilitated by the use of video since this is full-length video
documentary. This would enable them to air their concerns and problematic situations without the
fear of being judged and they can repeatedly throw ideas until they come to a consensus with what
to do.

This would make them “competent” that they can solve their problems on their own and
finally reach social transformation. SSI, in the detailed explanation of its process, stressed the
significance of sharing through constant dialogue, which stimulates the community to express what
is on their mind and assess their priority issues. It is in these sharing sessions that they are able to
exercise their listening and speaking capabilities, reflect and work on their situations and find
possible solutions to uplift themselves from the DP. With repeated involvement, community
enablement would be at hand, meaning, it has become a part of their community structure.

Small project endeavors such as this project taps on this framework to at least have a
“take off” point in the communities – to engage them in such endeavors no matter how little it is.
Also the framework gives importance to perturbation, which in turn stimulate critical thinking among
the members of the community. This enables them to exercise their analytical skills and learn to
accept that certain ideas are not always in congruent with the others and often manifest opposing
views. Sometimes the seeming absence of conflict could be the problem. This means that
perceptions about DP are not totally or not at all expressed.

Moreover, other techniques and tools of re-search, which highly affect and contribute to
the effective carrying out of communication for community enablement are highlighted. These are:
brainstorming, allowing the free flow of ideas; conscientization, lifted from the idea of Paulo Freire
as to the process of a “deepening” of the attitude of awareness characteristic of all emergence;
systematizing doubt, involves developing a certain kind of respect to statements carrying doubts
directed to the situation or ideas given at hand by other members at hand then doing something
about it in a form of dialogue and argumentation; reflection, the members engaged in SSI would
step back, take stock of the alternatives that shall have been discussed and would turn thought
back on their own understanding and appreciation of those alternatives. The execution of social
dialogue, discussion, asking questions and active listening are also part and parcel of the process
and are effective in generating recursive, interactive communication.

Please refer to the figures on the emphasized processes to be used for this project below.
 21

Fig. 1 SSI Evocative Procedures, Techniques, Tools of Re-search

subject of result of
re-search research

Community in DP

Disabling Non-disabling
constructions of shared
realities SSI constructions of
realities

(Facilitation)
enabler + environment
(perturbation)

Fig. 2 Recursion in SSI

 22

Another thing the researcher would like to point is the emphasis on ‘consensus building’ –
it is a technique of coming to a decision that is usually supported by everyone in a group, in a
process where everyone’s contribution is recognized. This technique strengthens the solidarity of
the group and the start of “we can do something together” mindset.

Theoretical Framework

The project is supported by the guiding principles of community organizing, development

and people’s communication, emerging public-journalism-as-ethnography concept and the role of
video to social development.

The project is grounded to the theoretical perspectives provided by the Socially Shared
Inquiry (SSI) and Ethnography. This is so to provide the atmosphere for soliciting as much
participation from the community; “enable” them more as to reach a permanent structure and
institutionalization of “community enablement” through repeated endeavors – big or small; increase
individual capacity and community solidarity at the same time; and heighten the reliability and
validity of data/method by having a complementation of methods both of SSI and Ethnography.

Conceptual Framework

For this project, the conceptual framework is aimed at solidifying the community through
constant social action leading to social development.

Community solidarity is a process wherein it is characterized by a cycle of continuous

involvement to social action within the community, which leads to social development. Important is
the continuity of action, engagement and involvement of the community.

However, to reach the highest peak, which is social development, it is important to discuss
the integral elements within the cycle.

Community is composed of members characterized by differences in attitudes, values,

beliefs, desires, interest and needs though they share a common culture (even in ethnic groups).
These differences cause disputes among members of the community. Thus, the paradigm of this
project begins with:

A realization that a community becomes ‘complete’ if its members agree to a

participation in important decision-making activities in the community; believe
that they are already aware of their situation and that it is only a matter of
stimulating their motivation to participate, which will eventually completes them.

Communication serves as the ‘nucleus’ /core, which realizes participation. This
is anchored in the following:
- the role of communication as an opportunity for social dialogue and
discussion
- engagement in the practice of active listening and asking questions
- consistency and recursion
- regardless of form of communication, indigenous (culture-based) or
modern (technology-based)
 23

- and that these forms are realized to complement each other.

Openness to new approaches of dealing with social issues, conflicts and problems
like re-search or community re-organizing activities depending on the need of the
community.

Welcoming of facilitators who would want to help and give assistance through
involvement in a re-search process or community organizing/re-organizing
programs and help communities regain their motivation and realize even more
their potentials in either ways.

With these potentials realized, involvement to social action is at hand in
addressing issues confronting the communities

Continuous involvement to social action will lead to further social development.

Fig. 3 The “Cell Framework”

This paradigm is called the “Cell Framework” because ‘cell’ in itself is the basic unit of life.
Therefore, it functions as the stimulant to development and completeness of the community
through the integral part of the cell, which is a nucleus and represented by communication.
 24

Research Design

The project will utilize both methods of Ethnography and Socially Shared Inquiry (SSI).
This combination will aid the researcher/enabler in further probing to the issues confronting the
Agusanon Manobos, especially relevant to their social development. Further, with these methods,
community participation is stimulated, which would lead eventually to a unified social action.

The plan is to undergo an in-depth study and produce a full-length video documentary
featuring the ethnic group, Agusanon Manobo. Project will be done by the group themselves with
the researcher/enabler functioning as “facilitator, therapist, mentor and organizer.” 1

Pre-production stage will include sharing, brainstorming sessions facilitated by the

researcher/enabler. Consensus building will soon follow after several sessions. The group will have
to come-up with a unanimous decision on what to include in the documentary –
issues/problems/conflicts, details of the problem/cause and effect of problem and communication
systems existing and used in resolving identified conflicts. In other words, the community will be
deciding on the content, key players to form the core group and delegation of tasks. Core group will
undergo mini-workshops and training to facilitate their learning of concept development and video
production, which includes research, writing of script, and shooting proper. This stage will
particularly employ the procedures, techniques and tools of SSI.

Production phase, on the other hand, is going to use the ethnographic methods, and which
will therefore be included in the documentary itself. Traditional media, which are currently used, will
be included in the shoot. These are the rituals/rites, dances, material culture and other visual/print
presentations. Key informant and interviews with other members of the Agusanon Manobo
community will also be a part of the shoot. The core group will be having their major contributions
in this stage.

Lastly, post-production stage will involve: evaluation of data gathered, viewing of the shot
scenes, formation of the documentary and writing of script. Brainstorming sessions will again be
set for these purposes. Editing will be in Manila but an initial copy will be sent for the groups
approval, then, final adjustments based on the community’s suggestions will be accommodated.

Audio-visual aids will be employed to effectively facilitate the smooth progress of the
project and determine how far the group has accomplished. These tools are: flip charts (list of
ideas), journals and diaries (written documentation of daily activities), audio tapes and cassette
recorders, bulletin boards, and other visual aids). These are, of course, according to what the
group will decide on what is the most effective and adaptable to their socio-economic status and
attainment. In case most are illiterate, the researcher/enabler will think of other tools that can
accommodate these members of the community. Re-echoing of results for each stage of
production is necessary to get the consensus of the community.

A written report/manual and a full-length, 1-½ hour video documentary will be the output of
this project. The written part will include the profile of the Agusanon Manobo, issues/problems
presently confronting them and a detailed description, explanation of their communication systems.
Part of the plan will be the publication of this manual. Both manual and video documentary will be
translated to the Manobo language.
 25

Sample Size and Sample Design

Barangays especially in remote places are usually small in size; thus, all are ‘research
participants’. The entire community will be asked to participate in the sharing/brainstorming
sessions. The community members will be the one to choose those who will form the core group.
Target participants are those pure Agusanon Manobos since population of migrants are also
growing.

Selection of key informants are also within the discretion of the community but will be
drawn by purposive non-probability sampling method and guided by the following criteria:
f. Age, if possible a member of the council of elders in the community
g. Position (one who has authority in the community)
h. Knowledge level (those who have the grasp on pertinent issues, communication
systems and traditional practices of the community)
i. Respected member of the community
j. Or based on the recommendations of the community.

Data Collection Method

The researcher/enabler will be employing various methods for data collection to intensify,
strengthen reliability and validity of data. Two sets of data collection methods will be utilized. For
the pre-production stage, the first set of methods will be employed, these are:

I. SOCIALLY SHARED INQUIRY (SSI)

Procedures
1. Sharing: generating a ‘we’ feeling

“participating in reality constructions as part and parcel of the community
with (a) the desideratum of equal opportunity to contribute what one can
or cares to, according to (b) his/her own abilities and perceptions, and (c)
own interests.”

fundamental: “(a) as a way of following through on the rapport established
upon entry of the enabler; and (b) because it is expected to contribute to
relief from disabling perplexity in that for sharing to take place, there must
be communication, and in what generates a ‘we’ feeling, a characteristic
feeling of trust, which arises out of constructing the other to be part of the
same whole.”

2. Perturbation: stimulating critical thinking

the aim of perturbation are two folds: “(a) trigerring public expression of
latent cognitions about DPs, calling them out into contact and dialogue
with each other; this is intended to: (a.1) free the community of cognitions
that are recognizably disadvantageous to them and to the process of
inquiry from their own standpoint and (a.2) to tap their creativity for making
their own decisions/constructing their own realities, and get them through
 26

continuous talking among themselves to come to a new consensus on

problems, needs, desires and so on.”

another aim: “interaction between inside and outside perspectives; it is
geared to expanding an existing consensus with a community to a range
of options greater than would ordinarily be available.”

both aims explore other possibilities through engaging the community
members into “novel ways of interaction” so that they would choose better
and be good decision makers.

to note, critical thinking in SSI is: “(a) lived activity in diverse settings and
domains in everyday life; (b) process of continually calling into question
the thing we assume or take for granted but, which underlie our own and
other people’s customary ways of thinking and acting; (c) triggered not
only by negative events but by positive as well; (d) rational but also
emotional; (e) open to alternative ways of thinking and living; (f) and,
varies according to the context in which our actions and ideas are
constructed.”

therefore, critical thinkers are becoming “mature adults who are breaking
free from habitual patterns of thought to view world in new ways; who
think and decide for themselves and are skeptical of quick-fix solutions, of
single answers to their problems, and of claims to universal truth.”

in this method, SSI suggested to focus on two central activities: “(a)
identifying and challenging assumptions, and (b) exploring alternative
ways of thinking and acting.”

Basic Techniques
1. Social Dialogue – in SSI this would refer as: “(a) open conversation on an equal
footing among everyone concerned about the DP, (b) conducted according to
principles on which there is consensus, (c) where the outcome of the conversation
is brought to bear on the decision later, and (d) where the reaching of agreements
depends on the way interests are pursued and balanced against each other.”

2. Discussion – “is a consideration or sifting of arguments on both sides of a matter.”

The social dialogue discussion format could become “a potent method of integrating
inquiry and intervention, and . . . can contribute to the intermingled processes of knowing and
changing.”

Basic Tools
1. Asking questions
2. Active listening

Specific Technique
1. Brainstorming – “informed, free-wheeling technique” of generating ‘limitless’ ideas
on a specific issue or problem.

2. Conscientization – “critically examining old ways of thinking in order to expand

alternatives for overcoming the DP”; internalizing the awareness “leading to the
 27

development of critical consciousness.” This would mean “seeing the elements in

the totality of experience placed in relief by problematization and being able to act
wisely on this basis.”

3. Systematizing doubt – “withholding assent on these alternatives until they are

tested”; to facilitate this, suggested tools are: “(a) dialectics and (b)
argumentation.”

4. Reflection – “turning thought back on the understandings and appreciation of the

alternatives.”

II. ETHNOGRAPHY
Methods
1. Participant Observation – this would allow the researcher/enabler to have an
extended and intimate interaction with the community of Agusanon Manobos and
keen observation of how they communicate issues of social relevance to one
another is possible. Observations will be properly documented through use of
journals, diaries and audio/visual tapes. This also requires total involvement in the
community’s daily activities.
2. Key Informant interviewing – allows researcher/enabler to ask previously
prepared questions and get a multitude of data since the nature of these
questions are open-ended. Further, repeat interviews will also be possible since
the researcher/enabler will be working with them all throughout the production of
the project.
3. Structured interviews. This is facilitated by a survey questionnaire.
4. Collection of genealogies and life histories
5. Inspection of material culture – domestic artifacts and ethnographic materials.
28