The Sama People (The Tabawanians)

They are called the Sama people and the island is an “emerald” and the strings that form the Province of Tawi-Tawi.

Sama people are generous, lovable, hardworking, helpful, brave, and mystical. They are peace loving yet adventurous people. They would “sail” away from Tabawan to South and North to find a better living. They brave the sea sailing for weeks or even months in search of a better future but with a fire within to return home once their have achieved their dream.

The present Tabawan generation is slightly different from previous one. Except for being politicized, The people still possesses those good traits mentioned above. But, because of poverty and deprivation, majority of them are being forced to do things that they don’t like. Many of them are controlled by few greedy \individuals. Generally, the locals, who desire to continue in their tradition of peace and tolerance, cannot decide anymore because the powerful and “educated’ elite takes advantage of their goodness and “ignorance“. 

Tabawan carries a mystical aura as the seat of the indigenous rituals known as pagomboh and pagdiwata. The island of Tabawan is the ancient base of these practices. And it continues to be the center of devotion and local pilgrimage. The traditional practices are still performed and are observed properly. They are the pag-duwata, pag-jamu, pag-‘mboh, pag-ambit buli lahat. 

The houses

The houses are built on shallow water. Most of the houses are sitting on the multiple wooden stilts—usually 16-20 supporting stilts per house. The houses stand in cluster and each cluster is quite crowded and so with its inhabitants. The houses are connected by wooden bridges and there are boundaries to determine to what barangay the cluster belongs. At the outskirt of the village, the houses are handsomely built and normally walled with good lumber. Some have become more modern and they use decorative hollow blocks. However, the houses in the inner portion of the village are quite different. They are literally nipa huts as if telling everyone of the poverty that prevails in the village. 

The descendants of original settlers are naturally inclined follow the footprints of the old Tabawan folks. Even if they can afford to beautify their houses, they won’t do it because tradition doesn’t allow vanity. They build their houses resembling the traditional houses made of local wood with nipa roof. If you visit the island, you would be wondering why people live in shallow water. Why don’t they build on land. 

The physical setting of the village is very crowded. Literally, there are hundreds of stilt houses in one big cluster. The houses are joined together with foot bridges. The houses appear to be attracted by magnetic field somewhere in the middle. Continuing with the metaphor, there is a nucleus in the middle of the cluster and it pulls the hundreds of houses like exciting electrons. 

Nature's Gift (a photo essay)

One of the most fascinating natural features of Tabawan

Unexploited white sandy beaches 

Clean jade green sea water surrounding the Island

A beautiful sunset dipping into the sea as the night creeps in

At a Glance

Tabawan is one of the 7,107 Islands of Philippine archipelago and is located on the Southern most part, coasting the Celebes Sea. A tiny little dot as seen on Google Map, in fact labeled under South Ubian (which is a municipality to where it belongs). 

Tabawan Island from a distant seems like a series of floating stones. But, when you get closer, the figure somewhat changes. It looks like a floating lost log in the middle of no where in the Sulu Sea. Yet, when you get closest to it, you discover that you have actually found an island—Tabawan Island.

Viewing at from a simple geography, Tabawan emerges about three kilometers long and one kilometer wide above the sea level. This island is totally flat with a rocky and thin soil. If there were no coconut plantation on the island, the island would have been just a rocky barren atoll. During bad weather, the island is very hard to find hidden in smoggy climate and total darkness. 

Like most of the islands and islets in the archipelago, Tabawan has white sand though its coastal areas are coral reefs. It has a wide range of shallow water where the locals pick seafood during windy and wavy season. During high tide, the ground level is about two feet below the sea level. At low tide, the island emerges a little higher. If you happen to be a seafarer or an explorer or simply a passerby near the island, you would conclude that this place is, definitely, a God forsaken island. It is so remote and isolated that no one would imagine that there would people living in this island. 

The truth is they are actually thousands of people living in there. They are called the Sama people and the island is an “emerald” and the strings that form the Province of Tawi-Tawi.

Tabawan is at center of the South Ubian municipality which is the easternmost area of the province. The municipality also includes the islands of Bubuan, Bintaulan, and South Ubian. 

(Book: Ray of Hope)