The Sama Dilaut, most commonly known as Badjaos to outsiders, are referred to as “sea gypsies” as they are known to live in the seas, aboard boats or by the shoreline in houses with stilts. Originally mostly from the Sulu Archipelago (Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, although they part of the Sama group of peoples also found in neighboring countries), many were displaced by the war between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front in the 1970s.
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Their plight exposed them to pirates, smugglers and extremist groups.[]
