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Carrying the torch of Cordillera martyrs

From the point of view of the martyrs’ children

MALIBCONG, Abra (May 4) — Banwar ka ti umili (You are peoples’ martyrs) Banwar ti Cordillera (Martyrs in the Cordillera)

This Salidummay for the Cordillera banwar (martyrs) reverberates in the air. As delegates to the 21st Cordillera Day lit torches, they rekindled the principles that these martyrs fought and died for. A solemn moment was held to commemorate these peoples’ martyrs: who fought for the defense of the Cordillera homeland, to their last breath.

Several of the martyrs remembered included Macliing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc Sr., Ama Daniel Ngayaan, Romy Gardo, Matthew Guiniden, Ama Mangatam, Lakay Pocding Pascual, and Delia Mangay-ayam. One of the barangays of Bangilo District of this town, Buanao has at least 12 in the list of martyrs.

The commemoration is a yearly tradition in Cordillera Day celebrations and this year’s celebration is equally colorful. Families of the martyrs are among the lists of participants in this year’s well attended occasion.

Dulag Macliing’s son

Francis Macliing, a member of the Butbut tribe and now in his 50s, is among the participants from Kalinga province. He is one of the children of pangat (tribal leader) Macliing Dulag, hero of the struggle against the World Bank-funded Chico River dams. The dams could have submerged large tracts of agricultural lands of the i-Kalinga and i-Bontok ancestral domain, Francis relates.

He remembers how his father died when Soldiers led by Lt. Leodegario Adalem strafed their house with bullets from high powered firearms. That was in the evening of April 24, 1980. The soldiers’ bullets killed his father while Pedro Dungoc Sr., another anti-Chico dam opposition leader, hid inside Macliing’s house. Francis recalls that Dungoc survived the soldiers’ murderous attack but pursued the struggle by joining the “soldados ti umili,” the New Peoples’ Army (NPA).

Francis remembers, too, their quest for justice from the state’s vil(BPO) can facilitate the resumption of their talks with Betwagan.

He is optimistic that these elders will help them objectify in the conflict. He adds that his brother-in-law has been one of the casualties of their on-and-off bodong relations with Betwagan. He is willing to help in the facilitation for the re-establishment of their severed bodong, he said. His father was known for his role in the multi-lateral bodong against the “common enemies” of the people. Multi-lateral bodong, from the traditional bilateral, was first utilized by the Bontoks and Kalingas in solidifying their intertribal unity against the Chico dam project. He holds on to that principle firmly.

Pedro Dungoc’s son

I first interviewed Pedro Dungoc Jr. a few years back. That was after the Quezon City Bantayog ng mga Bayani included his father, Pedro Dungoc Sr., in the list of martyrs who opposed the dictatorial rule of then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Dungoc Sr. joined the NPA after the murder of Macliing. He died in the Cordillera mountains.

“We are happy about that (Bantayog) news,” he claimed during that first interview over the phone. He anticipated the expectations of him pursuing his father’s unfinished tasks. Though he is not promising anything yet, he is already committed with the Center for the Cordillera Peoples Concerns (CCPC), a Manila based organization of Igorots.

He is now in their hometown in Kalinga while his two younger siblings are attending college. He just graduated and is an intern with the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines which covers the Mountain Province and the Tinglayan, Kalinga churches. Admittedly, he is pursuing his father’s tasks through the institutional programs of the church.

His programs cover the municipality of Tinglayan, specifically the Butbut tribe barangays of Ngibat, Buscalan, Bugnay, Basao, Locong, and Butbut proper and Tulgao. He is assisting Father Pablo Buyagan in these areas. His work is focused on evangelization, monitoring church projects, and organizing the Episcopal youth and women.

He pointed out that evangelization should focus on spirituality and the applications of the church theories into the daily reality. He thinks that the non-application of these theories into the daily reality could be the reason why some organizations of Episcopal women and youth turned out to be inactive. He adopted the discussion of community issues in their church-related activities.

He admitted that he is supposed to have his internship at the Saint Mary’s the Virgin in Sagada. But the Butbut-Betwagan tribal conflict confined his movement in Tinglayan. He felt this limitation. Despite this however, he continues his church work. This includes the physical establishment of Episcopal churches in the Butbut tribe barangays.

Carrying the torch

The commemoration of the banwar rekindles the struggle exemplified by these martyrs in defense of land and resources. Delegates resolved to utilize their organizations and indigenous systems in opposing projects like corporate mining and dams, that destroy the land, the very foundation of their existence. The beat of the gongs played every Cordillera Day celebration symbolizes collective words of unity – to carry the torch of the Cordillera martyrs in defending the ancestral homeland. This is the real meaning of the Cordillera Day occasion among all the delegates. # Arthur L. Allad-iw for NORDIS

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