Abstract

This study explores indigenous corporate property systems and management changes in the upland Bontoc sinpangapo’s tayan of Mountain Province and the lowland buleg’s cumon of Manaoag, Pangasinan, using anthropological methods. Employing emergent structuralism, we examine how shifting socio-political and economic conditions affect landholding entities. New economic opportunities, technology, education, and market integration have driven shifts from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture, to increased participation in diverse economic activities, and to engagement in cash economies through urban and overseas employment. These changes bring both opportunities and conflicts, especially in land management. Traditional social structures and behaviors are challenged, creating an opportunity structure in which previously deviant behaviors gain acceptance. The growing plurality of options allows individuals and groups to adopt and institutionalize new behaviors in the social system. Therefore indigenous corporate property rights are redefined with evolving opportunity structures, enabling acceptance of behaviors once deemed unacceptable under traditional indigenous frameworks.

Keywords: Bontok tayan, Manaoag cumon, indigenous corporate property, cognatic descent, emergent structuralism

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64743/ALXG1949