Social Organization. Government. The Village 361 



at least a part of these are hermaphrodites, but in Borneo, where they 

 act as priests, Roth states that they are unsexed before assuming 

 their roles. 



Laws. — Law, government, and custom are synonymous. What- 

 ever the ancestors did is right, and hence has religious sanction. The 

 lakay and his advisors will give their decisions according to the 

 decrees of the past, if that is possible, but when precedent is lacking, 

 they will deliberate and decide on a course. The following may be 

 taken as typical of the laws or customs which regulate the actions of 

 the people, within a group, toward one another. 



Rules governing the family. — A man may have only one wife, but 

 he may keep concubines. If the wife's relatives suspect that a mistress 

 is causing the husband's affections to wane, they may hold the Nag- 

 kakalonan or "trial of affection" (cf. p. 282), and if their charges are 

 sustained, the husband must pay them a considerable amount, and, 

 in addition, stand all the expenses of the gathering. If it is shown that 

 they are not justified in their suspicions, the expense falls on the 

 accusers. 



The wife may bring a charge of cruelty or laziness against her 

 husband, and if it is substantiated, he will be compelled to complete 

 the marriage agreement and give the woman her freedom. Unfaith- 

 fulness on the part of a wife, or a bethrothed girl, justifies the ag- 

 grieved in killing one or both of the offenders. He may, however, be 

 satisfied by having the marriage gift returned to him, together with 

 a fine and a decree of divorce. 



A man who has a child by an unmarried woman, not a pota, must 

 give the girl's people about one hundred pesos, and must support the 

 infant. Later the child comes into his keeping, and is recognized as an 

 heir to his estate. 



Marriage is prohibited between cousins, between a man and his 

 adopted sister, his sister-in-law, or mother-in-law. Union with a 

 second cousin is also tabooed. It is said that offenders would be cut 

 off from the village; no one would associate with them, and their 

 children would be disinherited. 



A widow may remarry after the Layog ceremony (cf. p. 290), but 

 all the property of her first husband goes to his children. 



If a wife has neglected her husband during his final illness, she may 

 be compelled to remain under two blankets, while the body is in the 

 house (cf. p. 286), unless she pays a fine of ten or fifteen pesos to 

 his family. 



