Sine Totoo presents ‘Karangaya: Inareglong Kasal’

In the Maranao culture, the “karangaya” tradition of arranged marriages continues to this day. Modern Maranao families continue to arrange their children’s unions, often at a very young age.

Sine Totoo presents Sandra Aguinaldo’s documentary that introduced viewers to the many faces of this tradition—“Karangaya: Inareglong Kasal.”

Sandra meets Fajad Mangotara and Olily Hadjisalic, two grade schoolers whose parents decided to marry them at the ripe old age of… six! Though not yet living together, the children seem to have no other choice but to follow their parents’ will.

Sandra also meets Ibrahim and Johanifah Razul, two teenagers whose marriage was arranged to end the bloodshed between their warring families. Ibrahim’s cousin killed Johanifah’s father’s brother. The mayor of the town intervened between the two clans, and arranged the wedding to summarily stop the war.

However, not all of the Maranao continue to stand by this tradition.  Minang Sharief, an English professor from the Mindanao State University, refused to obey her father’s wish that she marry her uncle at the age of thirteen. Her defiance of this sacred tradition has resulted in other Maranao women saying no to arranged marriages. 

In an interview with Sine Totoo host Howie Severino, Sandra Aguinaldo shares how as a journalist, she was conscious not to let her own biases and beliefs affect how she covered and wrote this documentary.

“Karangaya: Inareglong Kasal” gives viewers a deeper understanding of a tradition that has set the Maranaos apart from the rest of the tribes in Mindanao. It airs again tonight on Sine Totoo.