Mamiminbin Analysis

Mamiminbin is an epic from the Palawan group of Palawan. It depicts the story for a quest for a bride and the trials that come with it. Using the Consensus Theory, we can see how this epic reflects the culture and values of the Palawan.

Palawan .

Palawan is the fifth largest island in the Philippines. It composes of different land, water and mountain ranges that are spread around 1,700 different islands. Sitting on the western border of the Philippines, it sits in between the South China Sea to the west while the Sulu Sea is found to the east. There are 3 principle island groups in Palawan. The Calamian island is found to the north between Palawan and Mindoro. The northeastern coast is where the second island group is found, the Dumaron-Cuyo group. Lastly, the Balabac-Bugsuk group is found in the southern coast of Palawan.

Before the name Palawan was given, this place was known as the Province of Calamianes. In 1858, the province of Calamianes was divided into two, namely Castilla and Austrias. This was changed again in 1862 to Calamianes and Paragua. It was only in 1905 that Paragua was changed to Palawan. The name Palawan came from two different words. First, it was from the Chinese word “pa-lao-yu” which means “land of beautiful safe harbor”. Second, it also comes from the Spanish word Paragua which describes the closed umbrella shape of the islands.

There are also many different kinds of ethnic groups that existed in Palawan. There are the central and northern Tagbanuwa, northeastern Batak and the southern Palawan. These are the three groups that anthropologist have been able to widely study. However, there are also other groups that exist in addition to these. The Kenoy existed deep in southern Palawan with the Moro to the east islands and the Kalamian occupying coastal areas nearby. Most of these groups are...