A very select group of women exists in indigenous Philippine society who hardly merited any account in history.  Unknown to most, there exist in this day and age Filipino women who are hidden from sight and secluded from childhood until marrying age.  Not by choice or with consent but because of tradition.  

            The practice originated in the pre-Hispanic Philippines but continues to this day.   Mostly practiced by the Panay Bukidnon people, the ancient practice is the veiling and hiding of the most beautiful children from noble bloodlines to become a “Binukot”.   

         The word “Binukot” means “to hide or keep”. “Binukot” is an adjective that means “confined, secluded, and restricted.  Its root, binukot, is denoted as  “blanketing or swaddling oneself” while bukotan is a verb that means “to blanket, swathe, swaddle, much like an infant or a sick person”.