The Indigenous legal system among the Barlig people of Eastern Mountain Province

Abstract

The Barlig people who are among those belonging to the indigenous cultural communities of the Philippines have evolved a system of social regulations, institutions and processes that maintain peace, order and justice within the ili even without the benefit of government. These regulations are popularly referred to as customary laws or indigenous legal system in general which needs to be codified and recorded not merely for purposes of preservation but more of providing data and information to help facilitate the implementation of the state policy of taking into consideration the customs, beliefs and practices of indigenous communities. Furthermore, this study is in line with the government’s policy of self-determination for indigenous people and consequently giving due recognition to these customary laws as binding and effective legal code of their own. The study sought to investigate the indigenous legal system of the Barlig people specifically their customary laws on family, property, penalty, and procedure, inter-village relations and other peace and order in the ili. The study also aimed to determine how these customary laws are explained and justified by the elders of the ili. In providing answers to the problems so formulated, the researcher made use of the field research, individual case study, genealogical, and the historic narrative and descriptive methods. Specifically, the researcher utilized participation and observation, key-informant technique, and other interviews and consultations including mapping and picture taking to further illustrate the setting of the study and the key-informants respectively