English - Balay Mindanaw

Becoming a DatuPart 2 - Four Datus: Stories of the Higaunon Life’Tay Dikno comes from a lineage of datus. Hence, he wasalready aware of his destiny even as a child. ’Tay Dikno said:“Since I was a child I knew I was going to be a datu. ButI’m still not comfortable being called a datu, even up to now.Because the title requires that one be really knowledgeableabout the Higaunon customs and traditions, the traditionallaws, and has earned the respect of his constituents.”To ’Tay Dikno, being a datu is not an easy task because itentails a lot of responsibilities, as what he had observed withhis elders. He laments the fact that these days, anybody couldjust earn the title despite ignorance of the customary laws.As a datu, ’Tay Dikno has to look after the welfare of hisconstituents. He explained that he does not only attend to thewelfare of the 25 households in his community, since there areother people who need his help. The people look up to himwhen it comes to decision-making. But ’Tay Dikno stressedthat a datu’s decision will not always be correct, or that it willbe absolutely followed.“The datu would only facilitate the discussion, like in thecase of pamamahandi ritual. When agreements are forged, hehad to consult the opinion of everyone, if they are amenableto it or not. The datu will not just be deciding on his own.”Like Amba Palasambag, ’Tay Dikno believes that a datustill has to listen to the ideas and opinions of his sakop.But because of the people’s respect and belief in the datu,oftentimes, whatever his decision is automatically accepted.Although some datu may like that because it makes theirjobs easier, ’Tay Dikno insists it’s not the right thing to do.A datu must present his opinion to the people, and they caneither agree or disagree to it. Thus, in a gathering a datu must91