top of page
Likhang Mangyan

Mangyan is the collective name for the eight indigenous cultural communities living in Mindoro: Iraya, Alangan, Tadyawan, Tau-buid, Bangon, Buhid, Hanunuo, and Ratagnon. Each Mangyan community has its own culture, language, customs, and way of life. The Mangyans of Southern Mindoro are still using a pre-Spanish syllabic writing system that was in general use all over the Philippines when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century.

Mangyan Weavers & Ramit
Ramit

The Ramit is a handwoven cloth traditionally used by Mangyan women as skirts. Traditionally woven using cotton threads, ramit is now made from recycled waste threads sourced from commercial and industrial producers of denim jeans and other modern-day clothes. The scrap clothes are meticulously separated strand by strand, spun into continuous threads, and woven using handlooms. While the materials used to make ramit are now modern, the technology and designs are still very much indigenous and traditional.

Mangyan Nito weaving & Bayong Sinuluyan
Jose Linatawagin & Basil Maribunay

Jose Linatawagin & Basil Maribunay

Naynay Carpio

Naynay Carpio

Bayong Sinuluyan

The Bayong Sinuluyan is a traditional Mangyan bag made with very fine strips of buri palm leaf and decorated with strips of nito vine. Men and women alike use this bag to hold their nganga (a mixture of buyo, apog, and betel nut for chewing) and carry it with them wherever they go. The bag bears the pakudos, a cross design that is unique to the Mangyan tribes. 

bottom of page