A small fire flickered dimly in the corner, casting shadows on the group of men as they talked. The year was 2004, and I was back in the Philippines to find a mysterious tribe that lived south of the Alangan deep in the interior.

“We know of the people you are trying to find,” one of the men said to me. “We call them Batangan, and they’re a pretty tough group.”

We spent the next two weeks trying every way we could think of to contact the Batangan, but they would not allow us near them. I was forced to leave, having learned just enough to capture my imagination and set my heart on fire.

Fast forward to 2012, and I finally made contact with the elusive Batangan. What I found surprised me. First of all they aren’t called Batangan at all. Apparently only outsiders call them Batangan, which is a derogatory term meaning, “mentally retarded child.” They call themselves Tawbuid, “People of the Highlands.”

Out of respect for my people, we have decided to change the name of my AFM project to Tawbuid. You’ll notice this in my magazine articles and correspondence from now on.

May God strive ever more earnestly with the Tawbuid, my People of the Highlands.

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