The Tagbanua traditionally live on the coastal plains of central Palawan. However, many have now retreated to mountainous areas. They have their own language, script and religion as well as an independent system of laws and political organisation. These photographs show a family on the West-coast conducting their ritual Pagdiwata. A focal point of Tagbanua life, the Pagdiwata has a variety of purposes, the main one being to give thanks for the rice harvest. It is accompanied by gongs and gimbal (small wooden drums) and is performed by a babaylan, a shaman or mediator between the people and the spirits, deities and souls of the dead.

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Gongs are played to call people to the ceremony and the beat can be heard resonating through the surrounding hills.