This paper by June Prill-Brett, a Cordilleran anthropologist, offers an overview of Cordillera indigenous political institutions from the Ifugaos in the south to the Isnegs and Tingguians of the north.
Back then, the largest political unit is the "ili" or the village. Our ancestors didn't vote to determine who should be the leaders and decision-makers in their "ili". In most cases, elders were the designated leaders and decision-makers.
The closest thing to a modern politician is the "pangat" of the Kalinga. Becoming a "pangat" is an achieved status. Prill-Brett writes that "the qualifications of the pangat include wealth, lineage, family connections with other pangat, personality, cooperativeness, fairness, oratorical ability, a record of having settled cases of controversy between kinship groups, and above all, a reputation as a "dangerous" man who is feared by his own village mates."
This paper is one of several academic papers by Prill-Brett that were collected and published in a book volume titled "Tradition and Transformation: Studies on Cordillera Indigenous Culture".
