and some areas are sloping and become muddy and slippery when it rains),” Robin said.
The sugarcane miller (Victorias Mill) pays the hacienda owners based on the tonnage and pureza (purity of sugar) of hauled canes. Thereafter, the hacienda owner pays the manog-carro at a rate of Php58 per ton. On the other hand, the owner of the carabao used for hauling is paid Php19 per ton.
He also mentioned that during land preparation, a sugarcane plantation worker is paid Php200 a day, Php50 of which goes to the owner of the carabao that is used for plowing the soil.
During off barring and hilling-up operations, Nelson and his colleagues are paid Php268 (one-way cultivation) each per hectare. A third portion of this amount (around Php90) goes to the owner of the carabao that is used to perform the tasks. Nelson, Jose, and Mark do not own any carabaos. The hacienda owner just outsources these animals to provide the needed draft power during off barring, hilling-up, and hauling operations. Tractors are used generally for plowing the field. Likewise, tabaseros are separate laborers, hired purposely by the hacienda owners to cut and pile canes on the field at harvest. In performing the above tasks, the three workers receive from Php2,500 to Php3,000 each every 15th and 30th of the month. This translates to a monthly pay of around Php5,000 on the average. During “peak work season” (such as harvest season), each worker earns a maximum of around Php10,000 a month. Such income is just enough to support the basic needs of their respective families. Their incomes as plantation workers are augmented by small parcels of land that they cultivate for rice farming, the produce of which is solely for personal consumption. Robin Arroyo, 50, of barangay Binubuhan, also works as a manog-carro and a laborer in a 3,000 sq m-sugarcane field owned by Kagawad Joel Selorio. “Ginagamit namon ang karbaw kag carro sa paghakot sang tubo kay indi pwede o budlay mapaasulod ang traktora sa kampo kay batohon ang duta kag may mga parte sang kampo nga mabanglid labi na kon tig-ululan kay madanlog ang duta (We use carabao and bull carts in hauling canes because it is impractical to use a tractor in the cane field as it is stony
Photo by Charlotte Quillas
(ratooning) is only allowed for two years, i.e., two ratoon cycles. After which, the land needs to be prepared for planting new or fresh cane stalks or setts, a practice called kabag-ohan.
Carabao power Hauling of sugar canes by the carabaodrawn carts is a sight to marvel at. At the guidance of the manog-carro, the carabao (usually a bull) positions itself between a two-wheeled cart and a yoke attached to it. Thereafter, at the command of the manog-carro who chants “tik” (probably a shortened version of an Ilongo word santik, which means to “rub against”) repeatedly, the carabao lowers its head, lifts the yoke by its horns over its head until it positions onto its withers. The manog-carro then mounts the carabao and uses his legs as a riding aid to cue the animal to move forward and pull the loaded cart. From the cane field to the roadside, a practice the manog-carros called sayding (usually a short distance of 50-100 meters), the carabao pulls the loaded cart with ease in about five minutes. Once at the roadside, the manog-carro tilts the cart to unload it. Thereafter, the carabao drawn-cart travels back to the cane field for another round of loading and hauling. On the average, each round takes about 15-30 minutes of loading canes on the cart to its full capacity and five minutes of hauling. During the loading period, the carabao rests under the shade of the trees and feeds on sugarcane tops. The workers said they use native male carabaos in hauling sugarcanes because they are “efficient, easy to handle, do not tire easily, and heat-resistant.”
Some 800 kg to 1,000 kg of sugarcanes can be loaded on this cart pulled by this carabao. The cart’s body is made of steel and bamboo while the two attached wheels have protective tires. The assembly weighs around 400 kg. Thus, in total, a native carabao bull can pull over a ton of load. At the Araneta-Roxas hacienda, the manog-carros and the carabaos work from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily. At six hours a day (with a day off during Sunday), Nelson estimated that it will take five or six months to finish harvesting and hauling the whole 45 ha of sugarcane in the said hacienda utilizing just three manog-carros, three carabaodrawn carts, and some 30 tabaseros. During field preparation, carabaos are also utilized especially in smaller sugarcane areas. In barangay Binubuhan, for example, a carabao can finish plowing a hectare of cane field in around 14 days, working at six hours a day. Plowing and other field preparation activities, reportedly, will last for a month
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