Thread by @13thFool

Has there been human sacrifice in the Philippines?

Although now largely unknown and forgotten, but human sacrifice rituals have been documented among the Bagobo people in the Davao region of Mindanao.

[WARNING: the thread can be diturbing]

In 1861, Laura Estelle Watson Benedict published the book "A study of Bagobo ceremonial, magic and myth" which described this practice. She wrote that the ceremonial putting to death of a human victim is called "paghuaga" and is demanded by Bagobo custom on specific occasions.

"Paghuaga" is chiefly performed during the "ginum" which is a festival held "within 3 or 4 months after the appearance of the constellation Balatik (Orion)," which period coincides with the commencement of rice-planting.

Just like in the cases of Vikings, paghuaga or human sacrifice is also "held after the death of a chieftain or other notable individual of the tribe ...to provide attendants for the deceased in the country of the dead."

Paghuaga is also an important feature at the installation of a datu and is sometimes an element of a marriage ceremony. During crises like an epidemic, when crops fail, when drought lasts for a long period, it is thought that human sacrifice can appease the anger of the gods.

Benedict writes "On the last and main day of Ginum, shortly after sunrise, the slave is taken to the forest, or to the beach if the village is not too far from the coast. All the people from several miles around gather to attend the ceremony, except the younger children..."

At the place picked out for the ceremony, a sacrificial frame called the "takosan" is set up, consisting of three posts, vertically placed, with a cross-piece connecting them at top. The victim is regularly a slave that has been secured by purchase or by capture.

The ritual starts with a prayer to Mandarangan, who dwells on Mount Apo, asking him to accept the sacrifice, and to keep the Bagobo from diseases and from all calamity. Then the slave is fastened to the middle post of the takosan, his hands uplifted, his wrists and ankles bound.

Immediately, male celebrants would dance around the victim, shouting and striking him with spears and kampilan one after another. Other men and women present, would also rush forward and each tries to inflict a wound on the slave, hoping to please the gods too.

Benedict writes: "In a few minutes the slave is dead from a multitude of gashes. The instant he is dead, they cut the body, with the exception of hands and feet, into small pieces, each about 2 ½ by 4 inches in size, and drop them into the hole prepared to receive them."

"The hands, sectioned just below the wrists, and the feet, just below the ankles, are left entire, these parts being reserved to carry home to the little boys in the family that offers the sacrifice." The boys are made cut these parts into small pieces to make them very brave.

One of the last reported rituals was held in 1909 with the sacrifice of a boy named Sacum. Those involved were arrested including a man named Ansig who participated in 50 human sacrifices. They were sentenced to imprisonment but released on their promise to stop the practice.

Read more abut this here:

"A study of Bagobo ceremonial, magic and myth" (1861) by
Benedict, Laura Estelle Watson
quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/tex…

The Argus (Melbourne) February 27, 1909, Page 4
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/arti…