The River of Exchange: Music of Agusan Manobo and Visayan Relations in Caraga, Mindanao, Philippines (2008)

Abstract

Jose Buenconsejo’s The River of Exchange explores the role of the musical forms of the minority Umayam River Manobo in negotiating their relations with the majority Visayan settlers in Loreto, Agusan del Sur province, in Mindanao. The film examines contemporary Manobo and Visayan relations in this “far away place” and argues that music—particularly the tud-om song form—channels intense emotions into positive relations, thereby deflecting the possibilityof violence.