Umalohokan News and Stories
Umalohokan Indigenous Women is a group of indigenous women and young women community journalists belonging to Teduray, Lambangian, Erumanen Menuvu and Kirinteken-Ilantungen Manobo from Maguindanao, Cotabato, and Bukidnon, Philippines. Umalohokan means “town criers” of the Philippine pre-colonial era. They were tasked to go around the different barangays by foot to deliver news and information to the people. The Umalohokan during the pre-colonial era were mostly men and were assigned by Datus and Chieftains. The revival of Umalohokan puts indigenous women at the center – as bearers of truthful and factual news and information, as advocates of indigenous people’s rights, human rights, and women’s rights, and as women rights defenders pushing for good governance and accountability. Umalohokan indigenous women carry the slogan Truth, Justice, and Power.
